Requiem For Revenge
by Lilah Kayne
Summary: * Revisions and rewrites in effect. New chapters soon to follow! See Chapter One for details. . * Sylar has taken control of the free world. But when Adam is released to join the cause, the rebels' leader's daughter is taken. AU - Adam x OFC - Sylar x OFC
1. Chapter 1

Hello, faithful followers! After a year of being absent, I've gotten back into my writing career. And what better way to brush up on my writing than to revise and rewrite my lovely fanfic that had captured my heart and led me on a crazy path that I really had no intention of going down when I first imagined this piece. Sure, that means going through all 20 chapters before getting down to creating more, but I feel it's a necessary thing to do. And with my new job allowing me ample time alone each night (usually, anyway) to get this done, I figure I can do this _and_ provide you with a richer reading experience. So, please be a little patient over the next week or so, and I will get through all the revisions and get to work on tugging everyone down the twisting path that is Olivia Petrelli's life!

As always, please leave a comment after you read, as I love all of your opinions and guesses as to what is going to happen next!

* * *

**Summary:**Chaos reigns over the world. Sylar has taken control of most of the "evolved human" population. A group of rebels tries desperately to stay free and resist him, but when Adam is released just as their leader's daughter is kidnapped, how can their plan succeed? AU. AdamOC, SylarOC.

**A/N:** Set after Season Two, but mainly AU by my imagination. No spoilers. Also, it's rated this way for a reason. I feel no need to hold back on the language or anything. I refuse to candy-coat a story for the easily offended. So if that's you, turn back now.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own, so you can't sue. Now I'm depressed. Happy now? Besides, if I did own Heroes, Season Two would have lasted longer than eleven episodes.

**KEY:** Here's something to help y'all out with all the italic writing in the chapters. I'll put this key in each chapter as a continuous reminder in case y'all need it. Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

**Requiem For Revenge**

Adam sighed in frustration for what seemed like the millionth time in just the last hour. It was going to be one of those days again. He'd spend the entire time pissed off at the ghosts of the past. That's all they were anymore. Nothing more than ghosts. Bob had died years ago for all he knew. Elle would have taken his place at the Company. Or at least someone just as bad as the old Founders were. And Hiro...

He growled low in his throat and slammed his fist into the concrete wall. Tiny pieces crumbled away under his hand, falling like gray dust to the floor. His knuckles cracked softly as they realigned themselves and healed over. He sighed once more as he wiped the drying blood from his perfect hand. He knew it would take decades to break out of this tomb. But at lease it was better then the coffin in Tokyo. He cringed at the memory of the months of torture inside that prison.

_***He slammed his fist into the wood above him. It creaked and groaned from the action, and he heard the soil shift slightly. Just maybe one day he could break out of this hell hole he was in. And then he could get revenge on that little snake that put him in this casket. He was still so angry at Hiro that he punched the lid again. This time the wood split just enough to leave splinters in his knuckles. As usual, his skin pushed the splinters out and healed back up, leaving no trace at all of the damage. By this time, even the simple meaningless act of his power pissed him off. Many times he wished he could just die and stay that way._

_But each time his lungs could no longer take in any more of the scarce oxygen, and he would suffocate, they would regenerate and he would come back. Back to the confinement of that horrid coffin. Back to the torture of not being able to break through the tough, thick wood. To the reality of knowing that even if he did break out, there was almost no way of digging to the surface. No one can breathe dirt. Regenerative ability or not, it's just not possible. Is it?  
_

_As his head started to spin once again and the familiar ache in his lungs grew harder to bear, he cursed out loud. Closing his eyes, he waited to die and return. His last staggering breath sounded hoarse, strained, and exceptionally painful, even to him. He was starting to become annoyed with that as well. Yes, today was going to be a bad day...***_

He was grateful that he had been moved when Hiro had a change of heart about his condition and had him moved to a tomb instead. He was more than just slightly irritated when they moved him, though. Hiro had gotten smart. Used hired goons to do the dirty work. They dug him up and drugged him as his eyes were still adjusting to the sudden brightness of the moonlight. He was unconscious long before he could do anything to anyone.

Then he was here. In a miserable tomb in another graveyard somewhere else. There was no way he could know. No one came by, so there was no dialect to try to trace to a region. Only quiet. And time. Time to ponder the ways of the world again. To focus on the true path of humanity and how evolved humans would fit in. If they ever could. The way the world was when he left it, it didn't seem like they would have much of a chance unless they all banned together and did something drastic.

Like release Strain 38.

_No,_ he thought bitterly to himself. _It wouldn't have solved anything then, and it damn sure wouldn't solve anything now. It was a stupid plan. I was such a fool._

Just then, Adam felt something odd. His mind felt like someone was pulling on it with a thin string. Pulling with just the tiniest of nudges. It started with a light tingle, like the flutter of butterfly wings, and then grew into a steady tug. The familiar tomb gave way to a vision of a rocky bluff overlooking a beach, with the waves crashing several feet below him, the sounds of gulls crying nearby, and the sun beginning to set off in the distance. He looked around in amazement and shock.

_What the hell?_

Then he heard a small giggle behind him. He whirled around, finding himself face to face with a young woman in her mid-twenties. He stood about five and a half feet tall, with chocolate-colored hair and blue-green eyes. She looked up at him, an amused smile on her face. He stared in shock, unable to move or speak. It had been so long since he'd seen anyone other than the ghosts that haunted his memories.

"Hello, Adam. I've finally found you."


	2. Chapter 2

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

"Hello, Adam. I've finally found you."

Her voice was calm and cool. It rang through the air with grace and sweetness. Her thick accent told him she was raised in the southern part of the U.S. And she was cute, too. Chocolate curls framed her face, and her eyes sparkled blue with flashes of green. She was of average build; not too skinny, but not overweight. Slightly thick, she could be called. A cute little pooch accompanied her otherwise flat belly, but it looked just right on her. She wore a light pink wrap-around v-neck top and light blue denim jeans with white sneakers trimmed in light pink piping. Around her neck was a delicate silver chain with a small silver fairy with blue-green topaz gems adorning her wings resting against the bare ivory skin of her sternum. But all that still didn't tell him what he was doing in this strange yet beautiful place.

"Who are you?" he asked her. "What's going on? What is this place?"

"Well, I thought you'd enjoy getting away from your prison for a while," she replied in the same pleased voice. "Telepathy is one of my specialties. I can enter your mind, bring you into mine, create my own world where the only rules are my own... I can even control your body by cutting off your cognitive abilities. Anything I want to do, I can. So, I brought you here."

She motioned to the scenery around them. "And my name is Olivia, by the way."

"How do you know me?"

She giggled again. "Oh, I know a lot about you, Adam Monroe. I know what you've done, and why you are where you are. Though your exact location is still a mystery. But we will rectify that soon enough."

As she talked, she walked around him and over to the edge of the bluff. She looked out over the water with a small, dreamy smile on her face. He joined her, watching her instead of the scenery. He was about to prod further when she turned abruptly around and everything shifted. He felt a slight sensation of vertigo as the scenery blurred and changed. They were now standing on a deserted city street, trash littering the ground. The breeze that blew was cold and smelled like grit, ash, and oil. Olivia no longer had a smile on her face. It had been replaced with a look of fear, worry, and discontent.

"This is the world now that Sylar has escaped from the Company. He's brought on a full-fledged witch hunt against all evolved humans that fit his profiles. Anyone with a power he deems worthy enough is hunted down, and taken so his compound so he can either turn them to his side or destroy them."

"Sylar?"

"He's a man of pure evil. He steals the powers of people like us, and murders anyone who gets in his way. He's been around for a long time. Since my father was young. No one has been able to stop him. Not the Company, not the government. No one. And what's worse is he has a fan club."

"Sounds like quite the guy."

She glared at him for his remark, even though it was obviously sarcastic. "Adam, I know you tried to release Strain 38 of the Shanti Virus. And that was really bad."

He huffed his displeasure at her. "If you know so much then you know why I did it."

"I do. But right now, that fate would have been better than this one. Sylar has to be stopped. That's why we need you."

"We?"

She sighed and turned to look at him, her aqua eyes pleading. "I'm part of a secret militia set on destroying Sylar. My father didn't want me to contact you, especially after you had done what you had to him, but we really don't have a choice. We need you, Adam."

"Your father? I know him? Who is he?"

She squinted and moved her hand up to her temple, grunting in pain. Then she looked back up at him, worry on her face once more. "There's no time for that. I'm needed. There's going to be a raid and we have to get out of the safe house. We can't risk getting caught when we're so close to finding you. I'll come back to you once it's safe. I promise."

"Wait! Don't-"

He was cut off as he was plunged back into darkness. Back into the familiar concrete world of the crypt. She was gone just like that, taking the wonderful scenery with her. Now, he just had to stay there in his torture chamber until she returned while the questions swarmed in his head like a mass of bees. Who was her father? How could he know him if he'd been captive for so long? How the hell did she know he was still alive?

Well, at least he wouldn't be bored anymore today.


	3. Chapter 3

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

Olivia snapped back to reality hard, toppling back onto the floor with a loud gasp. Sirens were ringing and alarm lights were flashing all around her. The door to her little room burst open, and her father rushed inside. She quickly stood up and ran to him, trying to hide that she had been using her gift to enter another's mind- something he'd adamantly forbade her to do unless absolutely necessary. Even though she considered this to be necessary, she wasn't ready for him to know what she was attempting. Not yet.

"Olivia, we gotta get out of here," he told her, urgency dripping from his voice. "Sylar's found the safe house."

"How the hell did that happen?" she questioned, grabbing her jacket from the tiny desk by the wall.

"I don't know," he replied. "But it's not safe here anymore. Grab a team and get to the sewer cover. I'll keep them distracted as long as I can while you get the weaker ones out."

"Dad, no. You can't hold them off by yourself. Let me help."

"No!" He turned and grabbed her shoulders. "You're all I have left in this world, and I'm not going to risk losing you to that monster. God knows what he would do to you."

Of course, she knew what he was referencing to. Sylar had gained a nasty reputation for torturing his prisoners. There was even rumors that he had acquired "sex slaves" along the way, using mind-control to bend them to his will, but no one put too much credit into those. It was the gory details of his murders that sent the tongues to wagging to most. No one could resist passing that kind of information along when even a tiny tidbit drifted in on the wind. It fueled the rebels' hatred for Sylar. As infamous as it made him, it also helped to keep those who wanted him dead on their toes just enough to stay alert for signs of his attacks.

"Please, Daddy," Olivia pleaded, fighting a shiver as it raced down her spine. "Don't fight by yourself. You're like a General to the people. They all look up to you. What will they do if you get captured, or..."

Her voice trailed off at the thought of her father dying for the cause. Her eyes teared up. She choked out a sob. Her father pulled her into his arms, resting his cheek on the top of her head. His hair touched hers, seeming to blend with it as it flowed down her back. Other than their hair and sharing two abilities, he found little resemblance of himself in her. To him, she would always be more like her mother. She had her eyes, that beautiful swirl of blue and green that looked like the waters off the coast of his late wife's home country rather than his own deep brown ones. She shared her same spunk, the same kindness, the same toughness, even the same giggle. If she had grown up in that beautiful land, she would have sounded exactly like her, too.

But Olivia had never been to Ireland. She had grown up down in Texas with her cousin Claire, learning to use her gifts with the one person he knew well enough to trust his most precious possession with. But he didn't stay away for long. He soon moved into the same town as his niece, and trained his daughter himself, preparing her for the future battles he knew would be heading their way. He taught her to harness the raw power she held in her mind, and to use it well. She used telekinesis everyday, from the simplest of chores like laundry, to moving whole stacks of junk cars in the dump for training. When they wanted to remain covert, they communicated through telepathy. She even did it at night when she knew fully well that she should be asleep, asking him to tell her a story so she could dream of things other than the monsters in her every-day world.

Later on, as she grew, he would tell her about her mother. How her chestnut hair fell in curls and waves like a flowing crown from her head. How all she wanted in the world was a little girl. And when he would get choked up on the memories, he would take her into his mind and show her instead. That was the only way she knew her mother- through his memories. And if he died, she died too.

"Don't worry about me, Livvie," he cooed softly. "I'll be fine. I've got a lot of tricks up my sleeve. You just get everyone else out of here. I've already got a group waiting to help out."

"Alright," she reluctantly agreed. "But if you don't show up by the time I get everyone out, I'm coming back for you."

"Livvie..."

"No, Daddy. I'm coming back for you and there's nothing you can do to stop me. So you better show up."

He gave her a small smile and touched his knuckles to her jaw. With a nod, he opened the door. A loud rumble grabbed their attention, and both ran out into the tunnel. One of the rebels, a man about Olivia's age with short light brown hair, ran up to them, his pale blue eyes wide. "They're blasting in through the floor of the building above us, sir."

"Damn," her father cursed aloud. "Alright, Tanner, you and Livvie get everyone out and into the sewer tunnels. Get to the next sector safe house. I'll meet you there."

"Dad..." Olivia warned.

"It's okay, honey. I promise I'll be there. I love you."

"I love you, too," she told him as she threw her arms around his strong neck, squeezing him tightly. Then he was off, and she and Tanner went the other way, gathering everyone and leading them quickly to the hidden sewer tunnel entrance in a hard-to-get-to room in the maze of the underground compound. One by one, the rebels headed down the ladder to safety. Olivia watched them disappear into the darkness, her gaze continuously switching from them to the doorway everyone was running through.

"Okay, Livvie," Tanner urged as the last went down and the few stronger members that had stayed to fight returned. "That's everyone. We gotta move. Let's go."

"I'm not going anywhere until my dad gets here." She kept watching the end of the hallway, looking for any sign of her father. Nothing. There wasn't any sign of the battle where they were. When Tanner grabbed her elbow, she forced her eyes to the tall man with sandy brown hair standing beside her.

"Pete can take care of himself. If you get caught, it's a whole different story. Now, come on!"

"No!"

She yanked herself away from him and started to move to the hallway. His eyes pleaded with her to stop, but that was all. He couldn't physically stop her. His power was mainly defensive, creating a force field around himself and others extremely close by for protection against things like fire or bullets. But he couldn't trap anyone inside the field. And her mental powers were too strong for him. She could knock him unconscious with a single thought. There was no way he could stop her from chasing after her own father. It was a lesson he'd learned long ago. Once she'd made up her mind, she was going to do whatever she wanted.

_"Dad!"_

She projected her thoughts to him with her telepathy. Mentally, she was already running down the twisting corridors, looking feverishly for him. Physically, she was still standing in front of Tanner. With no response she threw her mental voice out again, this time louder and fearful of the unknown.

_"DAD!!"_

_"I'm on my way, Livvie! Go, now!"_

His answer brought a sigh of relief from her. Tanner quickly glanced down the hallway before realizing that she was using her powers to contact her father. She made a little waving gesture at him, motioning him to go. He moved over the the escape ladder's entrance, but paused to wait for her to follow.

_"I don't see you! Where are you?"_

_"I'm invisible. But I'm almost there. Don't wait any longer! They're right behind me!"_

She grimaced and groaned, expressing her unwillingness to move until her father showed up.

_"I saw that, Missy."_

She gasped, squinting to try to catch the glimmer of the light bending around him as he moved. Nothing. Well, surely he was close enough to be there since he saw her actions. With one last huff, she turned and moved to the entrance. Tanner hurried down the ladder, and Olivia followed. Just as they were stepping away, they heard a squishy thud of shoes hitting the wet floor and a scraping as the fake brick wall closed off the sewer entrance and quickly turned around.

"There's my little girl," Peter grinned. Olivia shrieked in joy and relief and rushed over to hug him. "I told you I was almost there."

"I know, Daddy. But you know how I worry about you."

He chuckled. "Yeah, I know. Now, let's get out of here before they find out how we got out."

The two younger people nodded and they all broke into a jog to catch up the the rest of the group. Unknown to the trio as they hurried down the passageway of the sewer pipeline, someone was standing in the shadows. His face and body hidden by the darkness of the causeway's abundant shadows, he watched silently. It wasn't until they were undoubtedly out of sight and hearing distance that he moved. He began to stroll down the opposite way, pulling out a cell phone and redialing his only call for the night. The phone rang twice before someone on the other end picked up. When they said nothing, he knew who he was talking to, so he spoke instead.

"Intel was right, sir," he informed his silent listener. "The girl's a Petrelli. It's Peter's daughter."

With a click on the other end and a beep on his, both lines disconnected. The man tucked the cell in his pocket and continued on his way.


	4. Chapter 4

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

"Dad, this has been the third time this month we've had to relocate," Livvie informed as they sat in a small room furnished with only a round table and a few chairs. It was probably a break room for the nurses, seeing as they were now in an old mental home that had been shut down several years ago. She crossed her arms and leaned her chair back, resting against the wall for balance. "Do you think there could be-"

"I don't know, hon," he interrupted, not letting her finish her question. He already knew her next words. They were echoed in his own suspicions. A spy. "It's a possibility. But I can't just go around ripping the truth out of everyone's minds. It's too tiring for me, and it could end up causing too many problems."

"So what do you wanna do?"

He sighed, letting his head drop. He ran his fingers through his dark chocolate locks and thought for a moment. She knew he didn't really want to talk at the moment, especially with the risk of a spy among the group. She inhaled and exhaled slowly before continuing silently with the discussion.

_"Dad?"_

_"Keep an eye out. I don't even know who to trust right now. With the exception of you, of course. I know my own daughter would never betray her blood."_

She smiled. He lifted his head to look at her and smile back. _"You know it, Dad. Nothing in the whole world could make me turn against you. Nothing."_

"But I'm going to go find a room to lay down in," she said aloud, standing up. "I'm tired. I'll see you in the morning, Dad."

"Alright, Olivia. I'll see you in the morning."

He stood to give her a hug and kiss her forehead. As they embraced, he murmured into her hair. "I love you so much, my angel."

"I love you, too, Daddy," she whispered back, her embrace tightening as she spoke.

He watched her leave the small break room. After she had found an empty room with a single bed, located some linens, and made the bed, she stretched out on it and got comfortable. As she drifted around in her own head, she felt a tiny tingle in the back of her mind. At first she wasn't exactly sure, but she had the feeling someone was calling for her. A non-telepath was trying their hardest to reach out for her. It happened from time to time when one of the rebels needed help. She had instructed them how to call for her by concentrating on a feeling or thought and sending it to her as best they could. And she always heard them, no matter how bad they were at trying or how confusing the emotions they were calling her with were.

This time, she found the little cry and snatched it like lint in the air. She let it pull her, and as she got closer, she allowed the ever-fluid landscape of her mind to form as the voice willed it be. It became mid-afternoon in the foothills of the mountains. Evergreens sprung high from the grass, reaching for the sky. A stream trickled to life. Birds twittered in the distance. Fluffy white clouds formed in the azure sky. She started to walk down a delicate dirt path to a crystal-clean lake. Down at the bottom of the path, sitting on the edge of a dock, she saw a man with sandy blond hair, wearing a dress shirt and slacks.

"You called for me, Adam?" she asked as she got closer. He turned slightly to look back at her.

"I wondered if you could hear me if I had no telepathic power," he answered.

"Of course. My ability is strong enough to pick up the deepest of emotions from someone needing help."

"Someone like me," he offered. She nodded and sat next to him. He wasted no time in getting to the point. "How do I fit into your plans of getting rid of Sylar? And who the hell is your father?"

She sighed. It was a weary and tired noise. She sounded like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. But she answered just the same. "Even though my father can regenerate, and he's beginning to rapidly slow his own age progression like you did, he's still no match for Sylar. We need someone who is, for lack of a better word, immortal. Someone who can heal faster than anyone, from any wound that they could get. And so far the only one I can think of is you."

"Is that so?"

Another nod. "But Daddy says you were kind of a loose cannon back then. So unpredictable that no one could really trust or control you. But now, I can. I have the power. But I don't want to be a monster like... _Him_. So I have to know... Are you still that person, Adam?"

"Well, I must have made quite an impression on this father of yours for him to say that. You still haven't told me who he is, though."

He was avoiding the question. But she was also avoiding his. She looked down at the water. Fish swam merrily beneath the surface, paying them no attention. A dragonfly landed briefly on the placid surface, creating tiny ripples that spread out in a perfect circle from his delicate feet. As he flitted his shiny see-through wings to fly away, she watched him. She didn't want to tell Adam who her father was. Who she really was. He may not trust her. Or worse, he could use her for his own gain, like her father had warned when she mentioned it a few months ago.

"Olivia..."

His voice grabbed her attention. She looked away from the dragonfly sitting proudly atop a cattail reed and into the deep blue of his eyes. She longed to know the secrets behind them. To know how he'd survived so long with so much hate, both inside of himself and in the world around him. To abuse her power for only a moment to find out. But she also found herself strangely attracted to the mystery and the danger that surrounded him and fed his legend.

"Why don't you tell me who he is?"

"Several reasons," she answered, her voice barely above a whisper. "If you knew who he was, you might not believe what I tell you. You might think it's him trying to get revenge for you feeding his naive younger self with those stories. And you might try to use me to get to him. You could hurt us both and not blink an eye. And I wouldn't see it until it was too late because I wouldn't be invading your mind to catch it."

"Do you have any idea how long I've been locked away? Thirty years. That's a lot of time to think about things." He stood up and sighed before continuing. "As much as I hated to admit it, I was wrong back then for trying to release the virus. This world has always had petty wars. Ever since the first man evolved. They killed for more than just food, just like now. It's just the way it is. Sure, I still want justice for what people have done to me, but it's not my number one priority anymore."

"Well, that's a good thing," she commented, rising to stand beside him. "But it still doesn't exactly answer my question. What's going to happen if I get you out of your prison?"

"Well, that depends a lot on you, Miss Olivia. How badly do you need my help?"

"Beg pardon?"

He moved closer, smirking. "I asked how badly you needed my help. My services aren't exactly free."

That did it. He pushed the button. She wasn't sure if he was making a move or not, but she didn't like the chill his words gave her. She huffed and folded her arms. "If you're trying to seduce me you can get in line, mister. You're not the only man interested. And besides, I'm here to stop the persecution of evolved humans, not start a relationship with a man who's over four hundred years old and living inside a crypt in god-knows-where."

"Ooh, feisty," he teased with a laugh, moving closer again. "I haven't heard the words from a razor-tongued woman in decades. Why don't you stick around for a while? This could turn out quite interesting."

"Ooh, men can be so aggravating!" She huffed again and started to walk away. "Why don't you give me a call when you learn to behave and realize that the world isn't just about what you want, but just trying to get along with other people and survive as best you can? "

"Olivia, wait!"

He called after her as he followed. He suddenly felt like an ass, a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time. This woman was trying to help him out as well as herself, but that wasn't all. She truly was out to save the world. And all he wanted to do was play the same old games he'd always played with women. Changing his ways was turning out to be a lot harder now that he was having human contact instead of being stuck in that dreary box talking to himself.

"Olivia!"

She stopped and turned back sharply, her eyes glowing with frustration and disappointment in him. "What?!"

He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to offend you. It's just that it's been so long since I've had any kind of human contact, and last time I ended up in a damn coffin in a graveyard somewhere."

"Well, Adam, as mean as it sounds, that's not my problem. The people are my problem. Our race is becoming an extinct species because of Sylar. If you want to help us take him out, then you're gonna have to face the facts and get with the program. A lot of things have changed since you've been gone. It's a different world these days."

"Oh, really? Like what?"

"The Company, for one. They don't hunt us down to do tests and take away our powers anymore. We're a coalition for freedom from Sylar's deadly campaign of tyranny."

"Wait a minute. 'We?' You work for the Company?"

"My dad runs it," she informed him. "Well, what's left of it. We've had to break off into smaller cells and live in abandoned buildings and things like that. There's not many we can trust anymore. We need to unite against Sylar's forces before it's too late."

He chuckled. "You sound like quite the little general."

"Well, more like second in command. I've grown up in a war zone, and my dad is a great leader of our rebellion." She chuckled. "Tanner says I get more and more like him every day."

Jealousy flashed over his face. "Tanner? Is he one of your numbered suitors?"

She laughed. "No, not Tanner. We kind of grew of together after I moved in with my cousin. And it's not like I really have time for any other man in my life. I'm all that my dad has left in this world."

"So you have no room at all for someone else?"

He could barely believe what he was saying. He'd only met the girl today, and he was already hitting on her. And from the inside of a tomb, no less! How the hell was he going to pull this off if he could properly sweep her off her feet like he knew she wanted him to? How was he going to do all those fanciful things that made women's hearts flutter and their lips part just enough to elicit a wistful sigh as they melted into the man's strong arms? This may be a new world in a modern time, but the art of romance had hardly changed over the centuries. Women still want to be swooned in the proper fashion. And he was doing a terrible job.

The laughter glimmered in her blue-green eyes as she grinned up at him. Now he was doing it right. Her heart fluttered gleefully. And just like when they had first met, her voice was very Southern and light. "We'll see, Adam. Once we get you out."

"We?"

"I have a team looking for you right now. It's hard to find you. There's something blocking your signal. Ginny can't get a read. She thinks it has something to do with Hiro's determination to keep you locked away. She thinks he's using old Japanese magic instead of an ability."

A growl rumbled in his throat again. The deep hatred for Hiro bubbled to the surface. The scenery shifted so fast it threw them both off-balance. Suddenly they were in the basement of the paper factory again, squaring off with Hiro. Olivia marveled at the picture before her. Adam, completely unchanged, was glaring at Hiro with murder in his eyes. Her father was with him. He was obviously younger, though the way he looked today wasn't very different at all. It was as if she was looking at an image of her father taken only a couple of years before.

"Adam?" Her voice was slightly confused.

"I'm sorry, Liv," he apologized. "Hiro is a sore subject."

She nodded and took control. She brought them back to the meadow-lands they were in only moments ago. Adam relaxed, but his head was low. She turned back to him and laid her palm on his shoulder. He didn't move. Didn't blink. His gaze stayed fixed on a small white flower near his feet.

"Adam?" she whispered. "Are you alright?"

"I just want to know one thing," he said after a minute, his voice quiet and low. "Is he still alive?"

"No. Hiro died several years ago. A battle with Sylar's group. It was pretty bad."

His heart sank slightly and the lost chance for revenge. But he was surprised to find it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would have. He had thought about taking revenge on Hiro for so many years, but he hadn't really know what exactly he would have done if given the chance to follow through. Now he wouldn't have to find out. He wouldn't be faced that kind of test. Now he was faced with a different one. Her. Did he have the strength to pass? To fight beside her without trotting off alone to seek revenge against those who had put him in his current prison? Yes, Hiro was dead. Most likely, a very bloody and brutal death. But was it enough to simply know he was gone?

Olivia sensed a change in his train of thoughts. His mood shifted drastically, as if he was suddenly preoccupied with something else entirely. She felt the "glow" -as she liked to call it- of his being ebb and wane repeatedly. He was struggling with something. It made her uneasy. She wouldn't invade his privacy to see what was bothering him, though she desperately wanted to know. She instead decided to leave him for the night to sort out his problems in his own time.

"Adam," she began softly, careful not to sound too intrusive. "It's been a hard day for us, and I need to get some rest. Besides, my father will be checking in on me soon. And if he comes in and finds me comatose, he's gonna freak."

"Will you come back tomorrow?"

His simple question caught her off guard. She blinked. "Tomorrow?"

"I don't want to be demanding of your time or anything, Liv," he explained. "It's just that you are the first person to talk to me in so long. You make me feel human again."

She smiled shyly. "I'll come back tomorrow night. I've been trying a few things with my powers. I guess we could try dream hopping."

"Dream hopping?"

"You'll see. Just... Be prepared for anything. And I mean anything."

She gave him one more smile before letting herself fade from his mind and returning to her own.


	5. Chapter 5

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

"Focus, Olivia!"

It was the sixth time today her father had yelled those very words at her. She sighed heavily and pushed herself up from the ground. Her mind caught a glimmer of another. One that was focusing too hard. She ducked just in time to miss being knocked in the back of the skull by a two-by-four. She frowned and brought a closed fist up, using her mind to force the chunk of wood from her attacker's hands. It flew several feet in the air and clattered noisily to the ground.

"About time!"

_"Thanks a lot, Dad,"_ she muttered mentally as she slammed two more opponents into the thick padding of the walls with a wave of her arm. Both men grunted in pain and dropped to the ground. Suddenly, out of her peripheral, she spotted a wall of flames heading straight for her. She muttered a curse word under her breath as she flung both hands in front of herself and put up a small force field of mental energy to protect herself from the scorching heat. She cursed again as she felt the flames press harder and burn hotter. Then a surging wave of electricity joined the force, adding to the pressure.

_"Dad! I can't hold it!"_

_"Yes you can, Livvie! Concentrate harder! Push back!"_

_"I can't! It'll break!"_

_"Do it!"_

_"Dad!"_

_"Concentrate!"_

Olivia used all her strength to hold off the attacks. Five people. Six. Seven. Ten separate attacks. Her mind strained, focusing on the thin film between her and the others. She could see it bubble and ripple under the weight of the force. She heard a sharp crack, like the sound of a piece of plastic being snapped in two. Her eyes went wide, desperately trying to find the source of the noise. Then she saw it. In the center of her shield was a mark. As she watched, it spider-webbed outwards across the entire mass of the shield, bending and twisting it around her. The noise was deafening to her, echoing inside her head like a thousand windows smashing at once.

She gasped as she realized what was about to happen. The entire mass exploded around her. The energy from the explosion threw everyone around her back. The ground shook beneath her feet. She felt like her entire body was made of rubber. She fell to the ground, drained of all her energy. She faintly heard her father called her name over and over. Someone picked her up. She couldn't tell who. Tanner, most likely.

_"Liv? Livvie, honey? Liv, answer me!"_

His voice bombarded her swirling mind, echoing as if it were going through a very long tunnel. She saw colors and shapes with no definition. The voices of those around her held no constant meaning. They were just noises mostly. All except the ones that called her name. She knew those sounds. The faces didn't match them yet, but the sound was comforting to hear against the cacophony of the jumbled noises that came at her then passed just as quickly.

_"Liv, it's alright. We've got you. We'll get the doc in here as soon as we can. Don't worry, okay?"_

She wished so badly that she had the strength so speak out loud. Or even send thoughts to her father. Wait. Why could she hear him but he couldn't hear her? What happened when the shield broke? Was everyone alright? Was she alright? She couldn't make any kind of assessment at all. She tried opening her eyes, but the light hurt and she blurred colors made her sick. The sounds of so many voices were giving her a migraine, so she instead focused all her concentration on the rhythm of the heartbeat of whoever was carrying her. She slid her head forward just enough to hear the thumping. It wasn't as steady as she would have liked, but it still had a soothing rhythm to numb her senses and help her relax a little.

_*** She sighed softly, her fingertips trailing lazily across his chest. The steady pulse of his heartbeat lulled her into deep peacefulness. She watched the horizon of the end of the bed bob slowly as he breathed, her head following the motion with no discomfort at all._

_"What are you thinking, Liv?" His voice rumbled through his chest, disrupting the sound of his heartbeat. She slid her head back to tilt her face up at him. Beautiful green eyes met hers, shining with blissful devotion. Her soul soared whenever she looked into those eyes.  
_

_"Just how I wish it could be like this forever."_

_"You know it could be. All you have to do is say the word. We can leave all this behind us. Start over some place where no one knows who we are. Just you and me."_

_"Maybe one day, love. We'll have that life. I just know it."***_

"Set her down easy, Tanner. Ginny, go get Doc."

She felt him shift and lower her down onto something soft. A bed. Her bed. But he didn't leave quickly. She felt him gently take her hand from his collar and set it by her own side on the covers. His warm fingers lingered on hers, shaking slightly. He was afraid. She felt it in his touch. He was scared the training had pushed her too far. That she was hurt. That she wouldn't come back this time.

"Sir? Will she be okay?"

Her father sighed before answering. "I don't know, Tanner. I've never seen her lose it like that before. Her shield just... _collapsed._ Practically folded in on her while it knocked us all back. I don't know what kind of damage she sustained."

"Sir!" Ginny broke into the quiet. "Doc's here!"

Several moments passed as the trio waited around Livvie's bed. Then she heard Doc enter the room. The tension was so thick she felt she was in a heavy fog. Gentle hands probed her skin, checking her arms, legs, fingers, neck, face. A shot of cold on her chest. The steady rhythm of stable breathing. A slight smell of licorice. Shoes scraping the floor as someone shifted their weight. A hand gently yet eagerly clasping hers.

"Well, Doc?"

Her father's voice. He was terrified. She heard Doc sigh.

"Physically, she's fine, Pete. No abrasions at all. But mentally, I just don't know. I'm not psychic. We'll just have to wait and see if she contacts anyone telepathically. But in my opinion, I think she just needs a little rest. She's pulled through these spells before, remember? I'm certain she'll be alright."

"Okay," he father replied half-heartedly. "Thanks, Doc."

After a few minutes, she felt the presences of the people in her room leave. A kiss on the forehead and another squeeze of her hand and her father followed the others out. Then it was still. Peaceful. She felt heavy and light at the same time. Like she had before when she burned herself out. Sleep. That was what she wanted. Sweet, restful, easy sleep. It came quickly, covering her like a favorite blanket. Before she knew it, she was no longer listening to the pacing outside her door. Or any other sounds at all, to be exact. Everything was dark and silent.


	6. Chapter 6

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

Adam paced. Again. He was sure it was nighttime where Olivia was. And yet he remained in the tomb. He tried again and again to call her. To reach for her mind like he had before. But to no avail. There was no answer. He began to worry. It had been five days since she said she'd be back to see him. What if she'd been hurt? Or worse, killed? What if she didn't want to see him again? What if...

"What is wrong with you?" he scolded himself aloud. "You don't even know her. Why the bloody hell are you getting all worked up over a female you just met just barely under a week ago?"

_Because she's gorgeous. And the first woman you've met since being imprisoned. Thirty years is a long time, my friend._

"Tell me about it," he grumbled. "Oh, bloody hell, I'm conversing with myself again."

_Well what do you expect? You've been ALONE. For THIRTY YEARS. NO ONE but YOU."_

"Shut the bloody fuck up!"

"Wow. What a way to greet a lady."

Adam's eyes shot open. He looked at the wall he'd been facing, and a sigh of relief escaped his lips.

"Livvie!"

She grinned. "Were you expecting someone else? And who were you telling to shut up?"

He blushed, scratching the back of his head. "My own stupid self, actually. I thought you might not be coming tonight."

"Well right now I'm kinda borderline comatose, so I figured I might as well attempt some kind of communication while my body rests."

"Comatose?!" His eyes went wide. "Liv, what happened?"

"Trained too hard today. Not that big a deal, actually. It happens from time to time. But when I break, I come back even stronger. So it's okay."

"By whose standards?"

"Mine. And Daddy's. Really, Adam, it's okay. I'll be fine."

He eyed her warily, but didn't continue. Instead he took note of their surroundings. They hadn't changed like before. He was still in the tomb Hiro had left him in.

"Umm, Livvie? Love? Why haven't we gone somewhere else?"

"Because I'm weak, for one. And I need to find you, Adam. And I can't do that unless I try to look at where you're being kept for clues."

"It's a tomb in a graveyard. I figure I'm still in Japan. My ability to heal keeps me from staying under any drugs for too long, so they couldn't have moved me far."

"I see. I'll get Ginny to try for just the Japan area then. If I could pull her in that would be great, but for some crazy reason her power goes all cuckoo when I try anything weird like that. She's gotta be stable to search."

"Damn." He sighed heavily. After a minute of silence, and watching her walk around and look at the walls, he spoke again. "So how long do you have?"

"As long as I want. My body needs to recoup. My mind is... A little off. But I was able to get here through dream hopping, so I'm better off than I could be."

"Well, that's good news."

He stopped talking and walked directly to her. She stilled as he placed his hands on her arms. She had on a deep red sleeveless v-neck shirt that felt like it was made of silk or something very similar. It flowed over her curves and accented all the right places. He pulled himself closer, inhaling her scent. A sweet mix of apple and citrus, topped off with a feather-light touch of floral. It was intoxicating. He felt his desire for her rush over him in overwhelming waves.

"Adam..." she sighed after several moments of silence, leaning back against his chest. The sound of her accent whispering his name was almost too much.

"I don't wish to be too forward, love," he murmured into her hair. "But it's been so long since I've felt anything like this. You've become my air. Too fast do I feel the desperation to be with you."

"Adam," she sighed again, turning so she could face him. "I shouldn't want to be with you like I do. You're pretty much illegal in my father's eyes. But right now, I just can't help it. I want you so badly."

At that moment, he abandoned the hope to resist the feelings that stirred within him. To resist her. He dipped his head and caught her lips with his. They both inhaled sharply at the rush of heat. She kissed him back, touching his face and neck with her delicate fingers. His hands quickly left her arms. They wrapped around her waist and back, yanking her the rest of the distance that separated their bodies. She moaned into his lips. He took the opportunity and explored her now-open mouth. It was as sweet as he'd imagined. Vanilla and cream. Like home-made ice cream.

Before he knew what was going on, they were on top of the cement coffin cover that was in the middle of the room, with Livvie beneath him. He broke away from her mouth and trailed down to her jaw, then her neck, then her collar bone. She gasped each time he nipped at her skin, her breathing becoming shallow and husky. She arched her back unto his chest, her head thrust back, and her hands clutching his hair.

"Oh, Adam," she moaned. It spurred him on to want more. To want all of her.

There was just one little problem.

"Um, love?" he murmured into her skin, momentarily pausing. He body reacted harshly to it.

She lifted her head from the cement. "What? Why'd you stop? Is something wrong?"

"Well, there might be. How exactly does this work?"

"Huh?" She was thoroughly thrown off-track. She let her body lower to the coffin and started to prop herself up on her elbows. The look in his eyes was almost as betwixt as hers. "How does what work?"

"Well, this is all in our minds, right? Is this going to affect us in reality as well?"

She grinned wickedly up at him. "Well, why don't you leave for a second and look for yourself?"

His eyes widened and a pleasantly shocked grin spread across his face. "Is that so? And what about your body?"

"Oh, I have much more control over myself. No one will know a thing."

"So we can actually do this? With our minds?"

"Not if you keep stalling we can't. You're killing the mood."

"Then why don't you bring us a nice soft bed?" he murmured into her ear as his thumb made circles on her hip, causing her to squirm beneath him.

"I've been a good little girl for too long, Adam," she purred. "It's time to break a few rules."

"Oh, you naughty little minx."

He met her in a searing kiss and pressed his whole body down onto her. He was rewarded with a deep guttural moan from the back of her throat and her legs wrapping around his waist. He pulled back slightly and shoved himself into her, ripping a louder response from the woman beneath him. She clutched the hem of his shirt and yanked it up. He took it off for her, grinning as she marveled at his defined chest and stomach. She licked her lips and bit the lower with a hungry breath.

"Gorgeous," she sighed aloud. "absolutely gorgeous."

Adam chuckled. Then he reached for his belt, slowly unbuckling it and watching Livvie's face the whole time. She huffed and fluttered his hands away when she determined he was taking far too long. She yanked the buckle open and the leather strap from the loops and tossed the belt to the side.

"Someone's in an awful hurry," he mused.

"I would have thought you'd be the one who'd be getting impatient, not me. I mean, it's only been five years for me."

"Five?"

"Adam, you didn't expect me to be a virgin, did you?"

"No, of course not. But your past never crossed my mind, either."

"Can we have this conversation later?"

"As you wish."

He leaned back down and continued his assault on her collar bone, inching closer and closer to her cleavage. Her breathing became erratic quickly, and she found it difficult to operate the fly on his pants. She couldn't form coherent thoughts when his kisses sent waves of fire through her body. He picked up on it and chuckled into her neck. He then helped her pull the red silk over her head and let it flutter to the ground gracefully. He didn't take the time he wanted to take in the sight of her bare flesh beneath him. Her eyes begging him to continue. He instead, found himself the impatient one now. He wanted her bare, and he wanted it now.

"Fuck!" she practically screamed. Adam stopped and looked up at her from his new position at her waistline, where he was working on unbuttoning her jeans. She looked pissed, glaring at the wall to her right. Her teeth were clenched tight and a deep scowl marred her face.

"What's wrong, love?"

"I'm being called."

"Now?!"

"They're in my room as we speak. I think they figured out I'm not there."

"Oh, bloody hell!" He dropped his head down, letting it land on her bare belly with a discontented sigh. She ran her fingers through his blond locks, attempting to reassure him.

"Don't worry, lover. I'll get Ginny to search the cemeteries near Aoyama. Ones with crypts. I'll get you out."

"And what exactly should I do with..." he trailed off, sounding a little uncomfortable with saying the name of that part of his anatomy. She giggled.

"I'm sorry, hun. Looks like you're gonna have to fix it yourself."

He groaned, and she giggled again.

"I truly am sorry, Adam. I have to go. I'll come back when I can. I promise."

She lifted his face and maneuvered the both of them so they sat up, then kissed him sweetly on the lips before leaving him alone with his "problem."


	7. Chapter 7

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

"Livvie," the voice drifted in and out as she floated back to herself. Male. Older. Very familiar. "Sweets, can you hear me?"

She promptly forgot that she was highly irritated that her mental sex session with the handsome stranger had been interrupted when she heard a childhood nickname only one person ever still used. She knew that voice. She welcomed that voice. She forced her eyes to open so she could see the owner of it. She found herself looking straight into soft brown eyes. The face the eyes belonged to was slightly round, with a few wrinkles in the common places. One of the sweetest smiles Livvie had ever known parted so the man could speak.

"There's my little firecracker."

"Uncle Matt," she whispered excitedly. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you, Sweets. Well, and Pete, of course. He told me what happened in the courtyard the other day. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Just a hard week and a lot of training. What's goin' down this time?"

"Wild guess, kiddo."

She grimaced. "He's up to something again, huh?"

"As always. But I got a new lead. Come on. Let's go grab some coffee and have a chat."

She nodded and slowly got out of bed. Matt waited patiently for her, then held out his arm for her to hold on to for support as they walked. By the time they got down the hallway and were nearing the little break room, she was relieved to find she didn't need Matt's help as much. She was walking completely on her own when they walked through the door. The tension on her father's face melted faster than an ice cube in an open fire when he saw her strolling casually in the break room.

"Olivia! Oh, thank god!"

He threw his arms around her and held her tightly to his chest, petting her hair and rubbing her arms and back. As if he wasn't sure whether he was dreaming or not. She hugged him back and reached out to him with her mind.

_"I'm okay, Daddy. Honest."_

_"Oh, Livvie, I am so sorry. I shouldn't have pushed so hard. I shouldn't have put so many on you. I should have thought more-"_

_"Daddy. I'm okay. I will be fine. Don't beat yourself up over this. It's not your fault."_

_"Yes, it is."_

_"Dad. Stop."_

_"Never. I'll never stop loving you or caring about your well-being, or worrying about you. You're still my little girl. No matter how old you are."_

She giggled softly into his shoulder. Matt cleared his throat, grabbing their attention.

"Sorry, Matt. So, uh, let's get some coffee, and figure out what we need to do."

Matt smiled and nodded, and the men made themselves a tall cup of coffee and sat down at the table. Livvie opted for water since she was still a little tired. After making sure there was no one around the door outside, they began the meeting mentally in order to keep it even more private.

_"Alright, Matt,"_ Peter started._ "What have you been hearing?"_

_"Elle's spies have caught wind of something pretty major this time. Sylar's dead-set on hitting as many active Company cells he can and taking them out."_

_"We know. We've had to move three times this month alone. Daddy thinks there's a spy giving Sylar intel."_

_"I never said 'spy,' Olivia. I said we might have a leak."_

_"Same thing, Dad. He's got one of our men on his salary, and you know it."_

_"That may be, Liv, but-"_

_"Guys. Leak or no leak, he's targeting you more than others. We think it has something to do with that tiff you two got into a long time ago. Right before Livvie was born."_

_"Shit. I had a feeling."_

_"What tiff?"_

_"Let's just say it was a bad one, kiddo. He vowed to kill Pete."_

_"Oh, my god. Daddy? What are we gonna do?"_

_"I don't know yet. First of all, we need better security. Tanner and a few of the other guys rigged up a tripwire system around the grounds, but that's not gonna warn us of every attack."_

_"I'll snoop around a bit. Read some minds. See if I can find out who's giving Sylar intel."_

_"Livvie, no."_

_"But, Daddy-"_

_"I said no!"_

_"Sweets, wait on it for a bit. You need to rest up a little more, alright?"_

_"Fine. I'm still kinda tired anyway. I'm gonna go lay back down for a bit."_

_"Alright, hon. Do you still want to hear us?"_

_"No, that's alright. I'll get filled in later."_

_"Rest up, kiddo."_

_"See ya' later, Uncle Matt. Good to see you around here again."_

_"Good to be seen around here again."_

Olivia chuckled mentally at Matt's corny joke. _"You know, that never gets old. No matter how many times I hear it."_

She touched the shoulders of both the men before leaving the room, already tuned out of the conversation. Sylar's threat occupied her mind all the way to the bed. She felt too tired to try to go back to Adam to resume their activity, and she wasn't in the mood anymore anyway. She opened her door with a sigh, half-surprised to see Ginny sitting on her bed when she walked in the room.

"You're alright!" she chirped. "I'm so glad!"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I've got some clues for you though. About Project M."

"Really?!"

"Yeah. He said he was drugged when Hiro moved him. So that means they couldn't have moved him far. He's in a crypt now. Concrete. I'd say the inside was twelve by twelve. It was pretty big. Anyway, start looking for any crypts inside Aoyama first, then look in the surrounding areas really close by."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Hiro didn't move Adam himself. He had someone else do it."

"How did you find all this out, if you don't mind me asking?"

"When a man opens his heart, his mind opens like a book. It came pouring in."

"Wait. What? He's in love with you already?!"

"SSSHHHHHH!"

Livvie whipped around and looked down the hallway. Then she closed the door and turned back to her friend.

"Ginny, I think... No, I'm pretty certain... That I could love him. I haven't felt like this since..."

She trailed off, dropping her gaze to the floor. Ginny also looked down. They didn't speak the name aloud, but they both thought it. And both of them thought of the face associated with the name. The bright green eyes, the sandy brown hair. The laughter that rang through the air like bells. His fierce loyalty and protective nature. And how much he had loved Olivia.

"He would have wanted you to be happy, Livvie. He loved you that much."

"I know, Ginny. But my dad..."

"Is going to be over-protective of you no matter who you date. Remember how he was with you guys when you first started dating? I thought he was going to end up killing him during training."

"Yeah, but Adam did a lot of bad things in the past. A lot of really bad things. He betrayed Daddy's trust."

"Yeah, and he's also been locked up for thirty years. That's plenty of time to change."

"Maybe," she half-agreed. Then she straightened herself and assumed the 'leader' role again. "Anyway, grab a map and get to work. I want him in the states as soon as possible. Sylar's not done with us yet, and I've got a bad feeling we might not get so lucky in the next raid."

"On it, Liv."

Liv sighed heavily and sank down to the bed as Ginny hurried off, closing the door behind her for privacy. Her eyes wandered over to the wall for only a few minutes before sleep took her, tugging her into a deep and dreamless slumber.


	8. Chapter 8

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

"Adam?"

Her soft voice broke the trance of the sunset they were watching from the comfort of a large, plush blanket laid out on the edge of a sandy bluff overlooking the ocean. He looked down at her, leaning forward and away from the log he was resting against. Her head was resting in his lap, as they had grown accustomed to doing over the last few weeks. They had become so close lately, with her seeing him almost every night as she dreamed. Their minds were each other's escape from the harsh realities they were forced to deal with everyday.

"Yes, pet?"

"I have some good news," she told him, raising herself to sit up and look into his eyes. "I think we've found the cemetery."

"That's fantastic. Livvie!" he exclaimed with a laugh, throwing his arms around her. "Now I can actually _feel_ you when I hold you. Oh, and when I kiss you. And I can feel the warmth of your skin, the thump of your heart, the softness of your hair, your lips..."

His hand touched her arm as he talked, moving to her face, then her hair. Without warning, he leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers. She smiled into his lips and returned the kiss with full force. On the horizon, a meteor shower bombarded the setting sun, illuminating the sky like upside-down fireworks.

"Olivia," he whispered once the kiss had ended and their foreheads remained touching. "I met you only a few weeks ago, but I feel like I known you for so much longer. You've been the only person to try to listen to me and help me see how wrong I'd lived my life. You're the Godsend, Livvie, my love; not me."

"I'm hardly the angel you make me out to be, Adam," she replied with a giggle. "And we still have a little problem called my father that we have to get through before we can really be together."

"Ah, yes, your nameless father again," he commented, leaning back against the log once more. "It seems to me that you're actually afraid of him, Olivia. Not just because we've had a grievance in the past, but also because he's more powerful than you. Am I right?"

She frowned and moved back from him, her eyes falling to the ground. Her voice was that of a child that had just been scolded, and was now talking after a long time-out. "Yes, he is powerful. But I respect him as much as I love him, Adam. He's never hurt me in my entire life, and I've never given him a reason to, either."

"But are you afraid of him, Olivia?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Because," he answered, sitting up once more. "It could very well mean the difference between you getting me out of the crypt, or winding up in one yourself. And I would much rather have the former than the latter."

"He'd never kill me, Adam. I'm his daughter. I'm the last of the family, not counting my cousin."

"Alright; I believe you, Livvie."

He looked out at the now-dark sky. It was quickly filling with stars, and appeared full of magic. Soon enough, he'd be able to really experience something this wonderful with Olivia. If she could get past her father to get him out. In the back of his mind, he still worried. He didn't want her to suffer for trying to help him. She had played no part in what he'd done in the past. She wasn't even born yet. He had to know who her father was. He still hadn't figured it out.

"Someone's trying to wake me up," she said suddenly, her hand moving up to her temple and her eyes squinting. "It seems urgent."

"Alright. I'll see you tonight, then?"

She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him lightly on the cheek. As she replied, she began to fade from the scene, leaving him alone. "You bet."


	9. Chapter 9

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

Olivia snapped back into her body to find someone standing over her and shaking her shoulders. As she began wake up, her friend's face cleared up. It was Ginny. And she looked like she was about to burst from excitement.

"Livvie! Wake up! We found it!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" She was still half out of it. It took her longer to come back to reality if she was asleep when she went to see Adam. Any trip she took while she was awake never took more than a minute to recover from. And it never changed, no matter how much she practiced. He father told her once it had something to do with her body already at rest when her mind left, and while she was awake she still had full control.

"Adam. We found him. He's in Aoyama Cemetery after all! Hiro didn't move him out like we had thought!"

"Hiro never moved him?!"

"No! I guess he figured no one would catch on that he'd left him in the same cemetery. Oh, and Parkman's back. He's with your dad right now."

"If Matt's back then something big is going down."

Livvie climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom to freshen up a little bit. She emerged a few minutes later, rubbing her hair with a towel. Gabby grinned and rolled her eyes at her friend, who was rifling through the closet for something to wear. She leaned over and sprawled on the bed like a cat, picking at the old, worn down comforter beneath her.

"So, uh... What did you guys do? Or should I say, _where_ did you guys do it at?"

Livvie shot a look at Ginny, who had an impish grin all over her face. "Ginny! I do believe that's a private matter!"

"Oh, come on! At least you get a chance to be creative with it right now. As soon as we get him over here it's not going to be as romantic in a run-down mental hospital."

"You, my dear girl, a nut."

With a laugh at her own joke, Livvie quickly changed into a clean pair of dark denim jeans and a fitted green t-shirt, pulled on her white sneakers with sliver accents and piping, and left her dark chocolate waves flowing around her shoulders. She turned and waited for Gabby to comment, and got a thumbs-up of approval. With that, she left the room and headed down the hall to the break room to join the two men. She passed no one in the hallway. Most people were still asleep this early in the morning. It was still just before dawn outside, and she began to wonder just what the hell she was doing up as well when she saw the familiar face of her father's longtime friend leaned over a mug of coffee at the small table in the break room.

"Uncle Matt!" she exclaimed, much like she used to when she was younger and he would come for a visit. Parkman looked up and smiled as she entered the room, then stood to greet her with a hug.

"Olivia, you just keep growing more and more beautiful every time I see you," he told her. "How's the head?"

"It's fine. No problems at all. So what's up this time?"

"Sylar's been one busy boy."

She made her way to the coffee pot and poured herself a hot cup as he talked.

"I've had intel all over the place trying to track him, but we just can't find out who your leak is. But I've also been listening around the complex. No one's thinking about anything like talking to him."

"Well, it doesn't really surprise me. I bet whoever it is out there is thinking we may do a little secret listening. I still say what we should do is probe everyone."

"Livvie!" He father slammed his fist on the table. The spoon near his cup rattled.

"What?! Someone's hiding with us and working for Sylar at the same time. We gotta find out who it is before we get caught!"

"I know, Olivia, alright? But we just can't barge into the lobby and demand answers. It doesn't work that way."

She sunk into a chair, sulking. Of course, he was right. But she was tired of waiting for the creep to betray them again. And tired of waiting to fight Sylar once and for all. She stewed inside her head for several minutes while Matt and her father talked strategy. She barely noticed the silent tingle in the back of her mind that told her someone was listening in on her thoughts.

_"What's wrong, Liv? You look like a lot more's going on than you're letting Pete believe."_

Matt's voice startled her, causing her to almost drop her coffee cup. She blinked and looked at him. He was still looking at her father, talking. But she knew he was also trying to talk to her as well.

_"I can't say. You and Daddy would be mad at me."_

_"Oh, come on, Olivia. I've known you your whole life. How bad would it be?"_

She paused for a moment, breathing and trying to prepare herself for the wrath that she knew was coming. After a minute, she re-opened the link between their minds to answer him.

_"Adam Monroe," _she thought, plain and simple in her response. _"We found where Hiro Nakamura left him."_

_"Are you out of your mind?! He's dangerous! He's completely unstable, uncontrollable, and don't even get me started on how crazy he is! He tried to release the Shanti virus and kill everyone on the planet!"_

_"That was a long time ago, Matt. He's different now. Trust me."_

_"And how do you know this?"_

_"I've been seeing him for almost a month now."_

"You what?!"

He broke the link to stand and yell out loud at her, scaring both her and her father. Peter didn't know who to look at, and Olivia sunk down in her chair. Matt moved in her direction and she quickly rose from her chair and backed against the wall. She'd never seen him like this before. He'd never rose his voice in her presence. She prepared to fight him off, even though she knew it wouldn't do her much good. He was a lot better than her, with decades more practice under his belt.

"Olivia, what has gotten into you?! Of all the people on the planet to contact, he's almost as bad as Sylar himself! He'll kill you without a second thought!"

"Who did you contact, Olivia?" he father asked from behind Matt. "Matt, what's going on?"

"She's been linking up with Adam, Pete. She knows where Hiro stashed him."

"WHAT?!"

"Daddy, please," she tried to plead. "Adam's different now. He wants to help us."

"He just wants out of his prison, Olivia! And he's figured if he sweet talks a young girl like you, then he'll get it!"

"No, Daddy! That's not true! He cares about me! He-"

"Oh, you can't possibly believe anything he says, Liv," Matt interjected. "He brainwashed Pete into thinking he was a good guy. He preys on the young and naive- no offense, Pete- and manipulates people so he can get what he wants."

"I know what he used to be, Uncle Matt," she defended, slowly moving away from the wall. "But you also used to believe in giving second chances. Why can't Adam have a second chance? Why can't you believe he can change?"

"It's just too hard to believe that someone who had held a grudge for over four hundred years against one man who made a silly mistake would suddenly forget about it and decide to actually save the world, Livvie," he told her, his voice sounding tired. He backed away from her and returned to his seat. Her father still glared at her from where he stood. She felt actual fear of him creep up her spine. For the first time in her life she was truly afraid of him.

"...Daddy?"

Her voice was tiny, frail, and meek. It didn't sound like hers at all. It was that of a small child's, caught breaking something expensive or something equally important after playing in the house instead of outside. She backed up against the wall again, her breathing unsteady. Instinctively, she threw up a shield. It glimmered in the fluorescent lighting.

His eyes flashed a glint of remorse. The warm brown settled and his face eased. His shoulders lowered. His heart ached. She was afraid of him. Afraid of what he might do to her. Sure, he was angry, but he wouldn't do what she must be thinking.

"Olivia," he sighed, reaching for her and pulling her into his arms as soon as she dropped the shield. She moved stiffly at first, until the warmth of his embrace eased her fears. "I only want you to be safe. You know I don't trust Adam anymore. He played me, made me think he wanted to help. I don't want him to do the same to you."

"I know, Daddy," she replied softly against his chest. "But I believe him. I really think he wants to help. And I want to help him. Ginny said he's still in Aoyama."

"That would kind of make sense in a way," Matt interjected. "That way, Hiro would know where he was. He'd know if someone tried to get him out because he lived nearby. Not that anyone really would."

Her father sighed against her hair, his embrace steady. He closed his eyes and let his mind trace back to the time he spent with Adam, following him like a lost puppy, believing everything he said about saving the world. He couldn't afford to let him roam free if he would turn out to be an enemy again. But it was true that he'd be a great ally if he truly wanted to join their cause. But dating his own daughter? That was a concept harder to accept than anything.

"Can we try, Dad? I have a team prepped and waiting for orders."

"You already have a team ready?" Matt questioned. She turned her head to look at him and nodded. Then she looked back up at her father.

"I learned from the best to always be prepared."

Both men laughed. Peter let Olivia slip from his arms and gave her the okay to send her team out.

"But," he told her sternly. "He better know who he'll be crossing if he decides to back out of his word and try to kill us all again. I'll have his head. And I'm not joking, Livvie. One wrong move is all it will take."

With a solemn nod, she left the room and called for Ginny.

"Prep a jet. I want Adam with us by this time tomorrow. I'll let him know you're coming."

"So your dad didn't have a fit about it?"

"You know he did, Gin. But I think I convinced him that Adam will do as he says. At least, I hope I did."

Ginny laughed and dashed off to assemble the team Olivia had set up long ago. As soon as she got to her room, Livvie sat down on her bed and opened her mental link with Adam. He responded immediately, allowing her access to his mind and welcoming her with open arms as she materialized in front of him.

"Olivia!"

"Adam, I have great news!"

Their hug held no real warmth, but that didn't matter. It wouldn't be long before it did. And she was too excited to care about such non-relevant things at the moment.

"Well, don't hold out on me, Livvie. Tell me!"

"We found where you are, and Daddy's agreed to send my team to get you out. But... There are conditions, Adam."

His face fell. "Such as?"

"Well, he doesn't trust that you'll stay with our cause. He thinks you'll betray us to suit yourself when things get rough. You'll have to prove your allegiance, Adam."

"Liv, who the hell is your father?"

She drew a deep breath. He was going to find out soon enough. She gazed up into his eyes, bracing herself for any fury he would unleash upon her.

"Peter Petrelli."

He blinked. He said nothing. His hands slowly slipped from her shoulders, down her arms, and to his sides. He stepped back and slowly turned away from her. He kept his eyes on the ground. The look on his face wasn't one of anger. It was shock. For a moment she thought she saw fear twinkle in the steely blue of his eyes.

"Adam...?"

Her voice was barely above a whisper. He didn't hear her. Didn't move. He watched the imaginary clouds in the imaginary sky roll with the imaginary wind. Things started to blur from the lack of proper concentration. She tried to focus, tried to sharpen the lines and bring back the feeling of reality. Everything went back to normal. The grass looked real. The trees swayed with the gentle breeze. The brook in the distance babbled and gurgled happily.

"He's going to kill me, isn't he?"

His sudden statement caused her head to snap up suddenly. Only then did she realize she had been standing with her head down and her eyes closed. And he was standing back in front of her, looking at her. Concern hung heavily on his face. Regret gleamed in his eyes. He was afraid. She could almost smell it. The emotions swirled in the air around them. Uncertainty, doubt, regret, fear, sorrow. She sensed them all.

"No, he's not going to kill you, Adam. He's not going to trust you, either, but he won't kill you. Unless, of course, you do something stupid, like betray us."

"I've told you before," he replied, his voice firmer, steadier, as his hands moved back up to her shoulders. "I'm not going to do that. I'm not going anywhere that doesn't have you there beside me. I've fallen in love with you, Olivia. I'll do whatever it takes to be with you."

"I love you, too, Adam." She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him close, receiving one in return. He loved her. She already had a feeling after being in his mind for so long, but she was never really sure. Now she knew. He loved her. Truly and deeply loved her. The brook seemed to squeal with delight as he kissed her.

Suddenly, everything jarred. The world looked like a television picture when someone's banging a fist on the side of the box. Something was wrong. Very wrong. She felt the urgent calling of someone trying to reach her. Her father. She grabbed the tingle and tried to understand. His voice boomed around them, filling the sky as if he were a god speaking to them from the heavens.

_"Olivia! He's found us! We have to get out! Get back here now!"_

"Oh, no." Her heart screeched to a shattering halt. Adam looked confused. But before he could speak up, she told him what he needed to know. "Sylar's coming for us. I have to go. A friend of mine, Ginny, and her team will dig you up tomorrow. Go with them. They'll bring you back to me."

"Alright. Please, be careful, love."

She nodded, and was about to lean up once more for a final kiss when she felt a searing hot pain on the back of her head. Everything blackened immediately. She disappeared from Adam's mind. But she didn't return to hers. She couldn't make her way back to the conscious world. She was trapped in the darkness. Trapped between waking and sleeping.

"We got her, boss," she heard someone say. The voice sounded so far away, yet so near. "The Petrelli girl is in custody."


	10. Chapter 10

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

Her head throbbed. Her mind swam. She felt like the entire world had been turned to liquid and she was left like a stone, doomed to watch everything from the beneath the surface but never drown. Everything was fuzzy and out of focus when she opened her eyes. She tried to use her telepathy and probe for stray thoughts. It was an instinct. An act she'd done a million times. This time, the action made her stomach turn. She groaned, struggling to keep her nausea at bay. But she couldn't move her hands to her abdomen. They were tied behind her back. And she was in a chair.

"Don't try to use her powers, Miss Petrelli. It won't do you any good."

She gasped. The voice had boomed from behind her. Directly behind her. A voice so devious it sent a chill down her spine. She'd never met the owner, but she knew the man just the same. Her father had told her all about him.

"Sylar..."

Her own voice was a hoarse mumble, just barely above a whisper. But her heard her. The chuckle that followed confirmed it. She heard him move. He walked around her chair and sat down in front of her in the chair she had just barely brought into focus. Suddenly her world was thrown off again. She squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth.

"So, you know who I am," he replied cooly, his tone rubbing her the wrong way. "No doubt from your father. How is he, by the way? I bet he's told you how vile I am."

"What have you done to me?"

"It's a lovely little cocktail I came up with." His voice dripped with sadistic glee. "It dampens your powers and keeps you compliant during interrogations. Don't you like it?"

"No," she answered flatly. Her mind was hazy, jumbled and out of reach. She wanted to throw up. It took everything she had not to. A tiny part of her brain was screaming at her to concentrate and untie the rope that kept her hands bound. She tried. She really did. She couldn't let Sylar keep her there. She'd heard all the horror stories of his experiments on evolved humans. The torture they endured before he got bored and killed them off. And if he knew who she was, then there was no telling what he had in store for her.

"Now what did I say about using your powers?" he asked. The tone in his voce still hadn't changed. It was so cool, calm, and malicious. She hated it. "You're going to hurt yourself, Olivia."

"The only one that's going to get hurt is you when I finally get out of here."

He laughed at her, ginuinely amused. Then she felt the rope slip away from her wrists and heard it fall to the floor. Her arms swung free to her sides. Instinctively, she raised her hands to her face. She rubbed her eyes and her temples, trying to clear the fog. His chair scraped the tiled floor. He was standing. Waiting. Waiting for her to attack.

"Well, let's just see about that. If you're as strong as you're claimed to be, then you should have no problems trying to defeat me."

There. A tiny piece of clarity in the haze. She grabbed for it and yanked. Her mind started clearing rapidly. She could think without feeling sick. She probed the room. Sylar was the only one there with her. Not so good, but at least he would be the only one she'd have to worry about. She wasn't sure how long her strength would last, but she'd give him hell.

She looked up. He was standing no closer than five feet from her. He looked the same as he did in her father's memories. No wrinkles on his face. Not a gray hair in sight. He's used his regeneration abitlity quite a bit to achieve that affect. Uncertainty crept into her gut. Was she strong enough to get the best of him? He was twice her age, at least. He'd fought her father, and nearly killed him. Twice. He was powerful. He'd killed so many other evolved humans like her over the years.

No. She was strong, too. Her father engraved it into her brain when she was little. She was strong. She could take anything he dished out. She knew a lot of tricks most people her age couldn't know. Not only could she fight Sylar, but she could beat him, too. She could kill him. End his reign of terror. Free the rest of her kind. Get back to Adam.

She stood. Her chair flew back, all the way to the back wall. She heard it break against the painted cinderblocks. Sylar looked slightly shocked, then amused. He smiled that pure evil smile. She glared back. Her mind spread across the room, grabbing objects. Tables, chairs, books, pens, papers. Everything began to swirl around and attack him. But he waved his hand and they crashed to the floor. A few little things struck from behind. A paperclip lodged itself in his shoulder. Caught him off-gaurd. He cursed, and she smiled.

_"I'm not a helpless little girl, Sylar,"_ she told him with her thoughts. _"My father taught me to be strong. My mind is a weapon you shouldn't have messed with."_

He snarled. He waved his hand again. A tabled flew at her. She saw it just before it slammed into her and stopped it. She sent it back at him. He caught the full force of it and was sent reeling into the wall. Quickly, she aimed every paperclip she could find at him, straightening them for maximum damage.

The tabled crackled and froze over. It exploded, shattereing into thousands of pieces. Livvie threw up her hands and formed a sheild with another table that lay nearby. Sylar rose from the floor. His eyes glimmered with both anger and intrigue. She reached out for his thoughts, hearing them as loud as if he'd broadcast them over the intercom system.

_...haven't had a good fight like this in a while... Too bad she's only telpathic and telekinetic... Could've been more useful..._

She didn't give him time to breathe. She sent her tiny spears at him, full force. But they all missed. He phased straight through them. Then he mocked her by laughing. It infuriated her. She clentched her hands closed hard at her sides and stomped her foot. The walls groaned. The ceiling shifted. Sylar looked shocked. She did it again, closing her eyes tight this time as well. The entire room shifted inward. Another stomp. Another groaning shift, this time outward.

_What the hell is she doing? The whole room is going to implode! What raw power! She's more useful than I thought..._

"_No!_" She screamed the word in protest, both orally and mentally. At the same second, the walls cracked with the fury of a lightning storm. The rebar support system screeched and snapped. Every light bulb popped. Sparks showered all around. The walls twisted violently and broke apart. Some pieces flew inward, others outward. The ceiling collapsed. She felt something hard hit her, and she fell to the floor. That same heavy thing was on top of her, pinning her down. She could hear everything crashing and rumbling all around her. But she felt nothing.

_Did I kill us both,_ she wondered to herself. _Wait. I can breathe. I'm not dead._

She opened her eyes. The whole place had blown apart. She saw sky where ceiling was. And a swarm of guards coming at her where the walls used to be. And Sylar pinning her shoulders to the floor. He was looking around the destroyed room as well. Astonishment had taken over his face. He was shocked at her power. She grasped for his thoughts again.

_Dear god... She ruined the entire place... How can she have so much power? It's impossible._

_"I told you I was strong,"_ she broke in. His head snapped down. He looked at her. _"All my life, I've trained my mind. It's a weapon."_

_"It's a fucking bomb, is what it is!"_

This time, she got to smirk. The guards that had been running at them finally arrived. Sylar stood and brushed himself off. But she still couldn't move. He was using his power to keep her on the ground until two guards reached down to pick her up. They all looked at the wreckage, then back at her. Their mouths drooped in awe. Sylar's normal look of deviated coolness returned quickly. He ordered them to take her to a cell.

"Give her a second dose of the cocktail," he added. "But no one touch her. I've got special plans for this one."

He heart thumped in fear. She tried to struggle against the grip of the guards, but they never budged from her attempts. They must have had enhanced strength. Enhanced humans working for the madman. She looked back at him as they took her away. She didn't like the look of interest he was giving her.


	11. Chapter 11

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

"Welcome back to the world, Mister Monroe."

The words broke him out of his daze. He looked up from the rubble at his feet to see a petite blonde, no more than twenty years old, with bright blue eyes beaming up at him. Around her, six more people toiled away, breaking open the crypt and bringing in food and water. He knew they were sent by Livvie to bring him back.

"I'm Ginny," the girl chirped. "We've brought food and water for you. Try to go slow. You've been in there for a long time."

"I'm fine. Where's Olivia?"

"She's back at the base. Waiting for you."

He nodded. He allowed the team to lead him back to the jet that was waiting at a nearby private airstrip. He used the long trip to slowly fill his body with the nourishment he'd been deprived of for so long. After several hours, he found himself drifting off into a peaceful sleep. Something else he hadn't done in a long time.

_*She was standing near the shore of the ocean, reaching for his hand and smiling. He ran to her, opening his arms. But just as they were about to meet. A bolt of blue lightning came out of nowhere and zapped him. He crashed to the ground, writhing in pain. When he looked up, Peter was standing over him, holding his daughter's shoulders. He looked down at Adam, his eyes gleaming with hate._

_"I'll kill you before you get to touch my daughter, Adam," he heard him say. Then he raised his hand, his fingers glowing blue and sparking. He pointed at Adam, and released the energy.*_

Adam snapped awake with a gasp. He looked around the cabin of the jet. Everyone else was asleep. Except for Ginny. She was huddled in a chair in the back row, reading a book and oblivious to the world. He decided not to bother her. It was nothing more than a nightmare. He'd had plenty of them before. This one was no different.

"You're awake," the soft voice called across the cabin. He looked up. It was Ginny. She had put her book down and was walking towards him. "How are you feeling?"

"I'll be alright."

She smiled politely and nodded. "There's a bathroom in the back. It has a shower. And if you look in the top cabinet on the left, Livvie left you a gift."

"A gift?"

"She knew what kind of shape you'ld be in so she told me to bring it. Go ahead and take a long hot one. It's Nate's jet anyway."

She gave him another polite smile and he returned the favor before making his way to the back of the cabin for a much-needed and desperately-wanted shower. He wasn't sure how long he took, and he didn't care. He helped himself to the shampoos and soaps that were placed neatly in a basket on the counter next to a few fluffy white towels. He smiled to himself when he thought about why they would be there. Olivia. Of course, she was going to make sure he had a shower after getting out of the crypt. As soon as he thought of her, he wanted to see her.

He exhaled slowly, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate. He called for her with his mind as best he could. He reached out silently with his thoughts. He focused on her face, the sound of her heartbeat, her voice. He sat there for a long time. She didn't answer. There was no rush of color to replace the black of his empty mind. No twinkle of light from forming stars or sky. Nothing.

_She might be too busy right now, Adam. Give her a little time._

He turned off the shower and dried off. Then he opened the door of the top cabinet on the left side of the vanity sink, and pulled out a box. It was plain white, flat, and rectanular. He knew it was a clothing box. Livvie's thoughtfulness made him smile again as he opened the box. Inside was part of a suit, very similar to the one's he usually wore. Black dress slacks and socks, and the palest blue dress shirt he'd ever seen. He glanced back up at the opend cabinet and saw another box. Inside, was a pair of black dress shoes. He chuckled to himself. Well, at lest he would look good when Pete killed him. Hopefully, he'd be able to see Olivia first.

His rapidly glowing axiety and worry shifted into overdrive when he saw Peter Petrelli himself standing on the private airstrip, leaning against an older model black SUV. He wasn't pleased at the sight of Adam stepping out onto the stairs with the rest of Livvie's team. But he also had a look of fear and anguish on his face that was unmistakable. The entire group froze in front of him. No one spoke, until Adam stepped up.

"Hello, Peter," he greeted cautiously. "I thought Olivia was going to meet me here."

"That was until Sylar invaded our hideout and took her," Peter replied. The agony returned to his eyes.

"What?" He couldn't believe it. She didn't get out in time. That's why she wasn't answering his calls. Sylar probably had her drugged out of her mind. Or worse. Panic attacked his chest, tightening it until he could barely breathe.

"I'm only going to ask you this once, Adam," Pete growled. "What side are you on? Because if you're not with us, you're with Sylar. And anyone who's with Sylar dies. No questions asked, no excuses."

Adam snorted and clentched his jaw shut hard. He balled up his fists. He didn't take a moment to think. He didn't have to. He knew what side he was on. Olivia's. And if Sylar was as crazy as she'd told him, there was no way he'd work with him. He was more of a loner, anyway. Or, at least, he used to be before that goddess walked into his life.

"You don't have to worry about that, Pete. I'm going to kill Sylar myself for laying even one finger on Liv."

"That's good to know."

He turned and opened the front passenger door, and left it. Then he walked around to the driver side and gotin. The small team piled into the back, leaving the front vacant for Adam. As he climbed inside, Peter started the engine and drove away. The crew watched as they drove off before going about their business of shutting down and cleaning up.


	12. Chapter 12

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

She'd been staring out the window of her room for what seemed like forever now. There really wasn't much else she could do. The cocktail in her system drained much of her energy, leaving her tired and worn-down. She couldn't even use her power to escape inside her own mind. For a few minutes in another place, a long way from Sylar's prison. But even that simple exertion of power made her nauseated and extremely close to blacking out. And she hated him even more for it.

So she just sat on the bench seat in front of the barred window, looking out at the barren grounds of the compound. She watched soldiers walk by on patrol. Listened to the faint chatter of doctors as they walked past her cell door. Felt the warmth of the sun on the glass and her face. Felt her heart ache for her father's reassuring embrace. For his voice. For Adam's kiss.

Adam. He'd be back from Tokyo by now, possibly receiving the full brunt of her father's fury. She knew he was still upset she saught Adam out for his help. But a couple of decades spent trapped in a concrete box gave a guy a lot to think about. He could have truely seen how clouded his judgement was. He could have changed like he said. Realized the error of his way of thinking. He could have fallen in love with her and joined their cause. Right?

She heard the heavy electronic lock whir and whine. Someone was coming in. Without even realizing, she turned her attention from the window to see who this unexpected- and most likely unwanted- visitor was. As he entered her room, she scowled. He walked in with such an air of arrogance it was almost as sickening as the serum he fed her. She diverted her gaze to her knees. She desperately wished she had the power to smash his body in the door. Crush him to death. Rid the world of his evil influence.

"No one has ever completely destroyed my interrogation building before," he commented, oblivious to the fact that she was trying to ignore him. "There's been a few who've set it on fire, blew out the windows, broke the furniture, peeled some paint, or popped a few lightbulbs. You know, small things. But no one has shown such a massive amount of raw power like yours before. It's quite impressive."

"I give a damn what you think, Sylar," she growled. "I'm not going to let you study me like some lab rat. So if you're going to fucking kill me, just do it now and get it over with."

"Now, why would I want to kill you, Miss Petrelli?" he asked, feigning innocence. Then he returned to his usual, evil tone. "No, Olivia. I have much biger plans for you. You're going to help me, whether you like it or not. Your family has caused me enough trouble over the years, and now it's going to end. I will have Peter Petrelli on my side, or dead. I don't care which."

"My dad will die before he joins your evil freak show, Sylar."

Her eyes blazed as she spoke. He smiled his malicious smile. His brown eyes twinkled with a devious secret. He seemed to enjoy angering her. To light the match and just stand back and wait for the powderkeg to blow. It was a game to him. A twisted little game. He chuckled lightly to himself as the fire in her eyes raged, preparing another dose of gasoline.

"You know," he told her, stepping away and turning his back to her. "Your mother said almost the same thing to me once. It was one of the last things she ever said. She died a few hours later."

"YOU BASTARD!"

Olivia practically flew off the bench at him. She used the full force of her body to knock him off balace, and they both went tumbling to the hard, tiled surface of the floor. Sylar landed first with a loud grunt. He shifted his shoulders and shoved her off his back. She scrambled to get back up before he had a chance and attacked again. She pounded her fists into him anywhere she found a shot. His face, his ribs, his back. She didn't care. She wanted him to feel pain. As much of it as possible.

"I'll kill you!" she screamed as she hit him. "I'll fucking kill you, you evil bastard!"

But her attacks were futile. Not only did he have powers and she didn't, but he was a man. Much bigger and physically stronger than her, powers or not. He shoved her off again like a doll. She rolled acrass the room. Her head ached. Her heart felt shattered into a million pieces. Her fists throbbed. She felt the tears brimming her eyes. But she refused to give in. She slowly pushed herself up to her hand and knees. Her strength was failing fast. She silently cursed the serum in her veins.

"You know," Sylar remarked, rubbing his jaw as he stood over her. "That wasn't very nice, Olivia."

"Fuck you, you murderous son-of-a-bitch," she spat. She let the anger fill her and give her a boost of strength that brought her to her feet. She tried to charge again, but remembered to use her grappling skills she'd picked up over the years with the rebels she lived with. She threw her shoulder into his stomach, and followed through with her body. Threw punches powered with her whole arm instead of relying merely on her fists. She kicked with the force of a mule. Her friends would have been proud. Sylar was barely keeping up with her. Unfortunately, each time she got in a good hit and drew blood, he'd heal and it would stop.

Then he cheated. He used his telekinesis to throw her against a wall again and again. Then he held her there as he got up from the ground. His eyes flared with a mix of anger and intrigue. She grunted and strained to break free. But she had no power. She was as helpless as a normal human here. The frailty of her stature fueled her contempt for him. And left her spirit beaten. She felt a stray tear stream down her cheek. He walked over to her, dropping his telekinetic hold and using his own physical strength to push her against the neutral-toned paint of the cinderblock wall.

"Well, I hope you've gotten that fully out of your system now," he growled lowly in her ear, his face merely an inch from hers. "Because it won't be happening again, _Miss_ Petrelli. I _will_ break that spirit and you_ will_ serve under _me_ and do whatever I _tell_ you to _do!_"

With each emphasized word, he shoved her shoulders harder against the wall, drawing out hard breaths and grunts of pain from her weakened body. She wanted to keep fighting. To somehow esape his hold. Find her way back to her father. But she couldn't. She was weak for the first time she could remember. It broke her heart again to know that she was completely alone. No allies to fight by her side and rally up more troops for their cause. Alone and powerless. At the mercy of a heartless butcher.

In that moment, the barricade broke down. She couldn't hold in her pain any longer. She began to cry. Sylar watched the emotional breakdown occurring right in front of him. He released his bruising grip. She slid down to the floor with a thud and fell onto her side. She brought her knees up to her waist, but didn't complete the fetal pose. She just lay there, an arm on each side with her fists near her head, her knees curled up, sobbing. He said nothing else to her. He only turned away and left her in her cell alone. And as the motorized lock secured the door, he wondered why he didn't feel more satisfied.


	13. Chapter 13

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

"We can't just leave her there, Pete," Adam argued for about the hundredth time. Matt huffed in annoyance.

"Of course we're not going to leave her there, Adam. But we're not going to go barging head-first into a military base protected by enhanced militia trained for combat, either."

"Enhanced what?" he asked with a raised brow. "It's a bunch of idiots swayed by this guy Sylar to work for him. And so what if they have powers? We can take them out with teamwork and planning."

"And what do you know about teamwork, Monroe?" Peter quipped. He'd been sitting quietly in the corner, trying desperately to reach Olivia. She still wasn't answering. She'd been gone for two days now. He was worried sick. Every fearful scenario ran through his mind, each worse than the last. His little girl was gone. Trapped in the clutches of the monster.

"Pete." Matt's voice broke through the anxiety. He looked up to see his old friend looking concerned and his ever older enemy glaring at him. "Livvie's alive. She is your daughter, after all. She's way too resourceful to fall to Sylar this soon."

"Then why can't I reach her? Why can't anyone reach her?!"

He stood, clearly agitated and distressed. Matt tried to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, but was brushed off. He sighed in defeat. Adam watched in silence. He'd never been able to see this side of Peter before. He'd never even met Cailtin, though he still knew how much she meant to Peter even back before Hiro buried him alive. He himself felt the pain of a lover's betrayal, but he didn't think it's was as bad as what Peter was going through.

"He probably has her sedated with a power-nullifying drug," Matt offered.

"Like what they gave us when the Company had us locked up?" Adam asked.

Matt nodded. "It's not as uncommon these days to hear of it. Some people have even gotten it for personal use, to nullify their abilities and live normal lives. There's no doubt in my mind that Sylar's found his own personal recipe for it. And it's probably powerful enough to knock the victim unconcious, knowing him."

"That's sick," Adam remarked.

"That's Sylar," Pete informed. "He's more devious and self-centered than you are. And he's got my little girl. I want a full team assembled. Only the stongest of our cells. We're going to raid his post and get her back."

"Atta boy, Pete," Adam chirped. "It'll be like the good old days. But this time, we'll have an army to help out. It'll be fun."

"I'm not in this for fun, Adam. I'm in it to get my daughter back. And to kill Sylar."


	14. Chapter 14

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

Fifteen days. That's how long she'd been in her little cell now. Fifteen days. Sylar hadn't been back for twelve of them. Ever since he made her cry. Left her in a heap on the floor. Alone. No more tests. No more drugs. The attendants that came by stayed only long enough the deliver her food. Silently. They barely even looked at her before leaving her alone again once they'd dropped off her tray or came to pick it up a couple of hours later.

But that was fine. She wanted to be alone. The serum was beginning the leave her system. Her mind was strengthening with each day. She could already tap into their minds and listen to their thoughts. She could levitate her food tray and move it across the room without a single morsel moving. The world she was able to form mentally was beginning to take shape, moving as she comanded. True, it more closely resembled the artwork of an elemantary school child than what it had previously been, but she was more than satisfied with its progress. It was an escape from reality none-the-less.

When she heard the buzzing of the electronic lock on her door that morning, she couldn't stop herself from looking. She immediately wished she hadn't. Her stomach churned at the sight of him entering her cell. But his air of arrogance was different today. Caution? Possibly. She wasn't quite sure. But the joyfully sinister look in his eyes wasn't the same. She didn't have a chance to fully place it. As soon as their eyes met, his gaze went ice cold.

"I've come to see if you've given some thought to your situation, Miss Petrelli."

"What situation?" she asked plainly. "I'm a hostage, Sylar. What's there to think about?"

"You know it doesn't have to be this way. I think you would find I can be quite hospitable to those who cooperate with me."

"Me? Cooperate with you?" She scoffed at the notion. Then she stood up and started walking over to him. "You've got to be joking. You murdered my mother. Deprived me of living a normal life with my family. Why the _hell_ would I _ever_ cooperate with you?!"

His dark eyes flashed. He shoved her backwards to the wall, using his hands instead of his mind. She grunted in pain as the breath was knocked out of her as well. Her eyes rolled up in automatic response, so for a second she couldn't see anything but darkness. She felt pressure on her wrists, hips, ankles, and shoulders. He had her pinned to the wall with telekinesis and was holding her by her throat at the same time. And she still wasn't strong enough to shove him away this time.

"I know _exactly_ where your precious rebel group is hiding, Olivia," he growled, bringing his face no more than an inch from hers. "All it takes is one word, and I'll have my entire army over there to destroy them. The attacks you faced before were nothing compared to what I could send."

"You monster. You think this is a game? Playing with people's lives? You're sick."

He grinned. "Possibly. But I like to think of it as an invisible steel grip on my subjects- willing or otherwise. You don't have to be here for me to get what I want, Olivia. You don't even have to be alive."

"The only reason my father would ever come here would be to kill you himself, Sylar. So if you're going to kill me, then get it over with."

She felt his hand tense tighter around her throat. She wheezed in a small breath. Her eyelashes flittered as her eyes started to roll back. She couldn't breathe. Her mind barely worked. But one thought kept repeating itself, and she let him hear it loud and clear.

_"Do it. Kill me. Lose control again. Do it. DO IT!"_

Suddenly, she fell to the floor. She gasped, drawing in ragged breaths. Her hand went to her aching throat as she coughed. She let her eyesight slowly return as she looked down at the tile beneath her. She felt him kneal down beside her.

"No. I have something better in mind, Olivia." He moved a strand of her hair away from her face. She looked up at him. "And when I'm through, I'll have you by my side as I march my army into your camp. You'll break sooner or later. You'll see."

Then he left her alone again. She watched him go. Watched the door slowly swing closed. Heard the sound of the lock buzz closed. Heard her fate seal shut. She was one of the ones to get the worse ending. She would live. But as a slave to his will.


	15. Chapter 15

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

Adam watched the light dance off the blade of his new sword. It wasn't the same as his old one, but close enough for him to not need to adjust anything with his technique. The blade was swift, light, durable, and very sharp. He practiced on imaginary adversaries, slaying each one with ease. His muscles felt a little tight and clumsy when he'd started, but now he felt as fit as he did before he was locked away. He was slightly surprised at the amount of persperation his shirt had soaked up.

"I hope you don't sweat that much when we battle Sylar."

The voice chilled his blood with a sharp pang of fear. Adam dropped the blade from the beam of sunshine and slowly turned around, trying to show no trace of the emotion he unwillingly felt at the moment. He forced a smirk as his eyes fell on a slightly aging Peter. He knew Pete was old, but the guy couldn't have looked older than his mid-thirties. His healing ability saw to that. Just as it enabled Adam to look as young as he did.

"You'll look weak," he continued, stepping closer. "And Sylar loves it when his opponents look weak."

"Don't worry about how I'll look, Pete," Adam replied. "Because I plan to get plenty of Sylar's blood on me when I'm slaughtering him."

"Tough talk for a man that's been locked away for thirty years."

"It's not just talk, Pete. It's a promise. If he touches one hair on my Olivia's head, I will dispatch him piece by piece. And I will enjoy every second of it."

Peter scowled for an instant, his eyes pained. He turned his back to Adam to catch his breath. To hear another man talk so protectively about his daughter stirred up painful memories he'd spent five years trying to bury.

"Pete?" Adam asked, breaking into his thoughts. "You alright, mate?"

"Do you love her?"

The question was simple, yet it threw Adam for a complete loop. He hadn't known whether or not this had been discussed between Pete and Liv. He found a dry humor in the situation before him. A father, even though he was hundreds of years younger than him, was asking his intentions with his daughter. If the situation wasn't so serious, he would have laughed. But though it was Pete asking, it was still a father doing the questioning. He didn't hesitate with his answer.

"Yes, Pete," he answered firmly. "I love Liv very much. I didn't think I could fall so quickly or so deeply for anyone, but I have. And I'm going to do everything I can to bring her back here so I can watch over her and make sure nothing happens to her ever again."

"I certainly hope so, Adam," Peter replied as he walked away. "For your sake, I certainly hope so."

Adam blinked, confused. Peter sure had changed a lot over the years. He wasn't as vengeful as Adam had expected. Of course, he could hardly see him extracting revenge when his daughter was missing. The constant pain in his eyes was evidence enough of that. A pain that increased when Adam proclaimed his intention to destroy Sylar and his love for Olivia. He wondered if it had something to do with her past romance she had mentioned to him before.

But he had little time to wonder about it. Another member of the rebel group had entered the yard and was walking toward him. The kid was Livvie's age, maybe a few months older. His light brown hair was cut close to his head, and the front was gelled to stand up slightly. His pale blue eyes, much similar to Adam's, were filled with not only worry, but anger. He sauntered straight up to Adam, not saying a word until the two were merely a foot apart.

"She's practically my sister, you know," he seethed. "And I trust her to know what she's doing. But I don't know you. So I don't trust you. And I don't care if you love her or not. But I swear to god, if you break her heart, I will plant a bullet in your brain."

"Whoah. Slow down there, kid."

"Don't call me 'kid'. My name is Tanner. And I've been looking out for Livs for five years now. Ever since..."

He stopped. His breath caught in his throat, a hard lump forming. Tears threatened to fill his eyes. He couldn't say the name. Not even after this long. He just couldn't. So he swallowed the lump in his throat and said the next best thing.

"Ever since that day in the park. I swore to Pete that I would never let her get hurt like that again. I love her, too. I'll kill for her. Without a second thought. Just to keep her safe. Do you understand me?"

"Sure, ki- Tanner. I understand. You don't have anything to worry about. Trust me. Olivia will not be hurt. Not by my doing, anyway. That I can swear my life on."

"You better be willing to keep that promise, Munroe."

Without another word, Tanner turned on his heels and stalked off. Adam blinked for the second time in confusion that day. What was this, "Threaten Adam Munroe's Life For Falling For Olivia Petrelli Day"? He shook his head and walked inside, sheathing his blade and slinging it behind his back. The building was fairly quiet at this hour. Most of the rebels were gathered in the lobby to discuss attack coordination for the strike. The little blond he'd met before, Ginny, saw him from the corner of the room and quietly made her way to him.

"Adam? Are you alright?"

"I'm not sure. I just ran into Tanner in the quad. He sounded..."

"Over-protective?" she finished. He nodded. "Yeah, he's like that when it comes to Olivia. Come on, let's go find some place quiet."

She started to walk down the hallway, and he followed. They didn't say anything else. They passed no one. She oped a door at the end of the hall- Livvie's room for when she returned. Well, Livvie and Adam's room. He'd slept in it, but alone so far. Her side of the bed stayed unused. Ginny sighed and sat down on the coverlet.

"Tanner's been like a big brother to Liv for a while now."

"Yes, that much he's told me. For about five years. Since the incident at the park."

"You know about the park?"

"No. Livs never mentioned it."

"I'm not surprised. No one really likes to talk about it. It's still pretty painful."

"Ginny," he pleaded. "Will you please tell me? This big secret is driving me crazy. I can see it in the eyes of every person here. It's like I'm reminding them of this thing that happened, and I don't know what it was. I feel like I'm being punished for some thing I didn't do."

"Well, you are the first person she's shown interest since then. So it's a little hard for everyone else to move on like she has. We didn't really expect her to."

"I see. So this concerns an ex of hers?"

"In a way," she told him. She sighed again before speaking. "His name was James."


	16. Chapter 16

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

The sun filtered in through the bars as it began its climb in the morning sky. Livvie woke up as soon as she felt it on her face. Her had probed her sore neck, as if she could rub the hurt away. It wasn't as bad as she had thought it would feel, but she wondered if it looked like she'd been choked. The thought made a lump form in the pit of her stomach. He'd nearly killed her yesterday. Almost lost his temper and killed her. But he didn't. He released her. Let her live. Why?

_"...He hasn't come out of his room yet today. What the hell happened in here last night?..."_

She heard the attendant's thoughts as if he'd spoken them aloud. The door buzzed open and he came in to deliver her breakfast as he continued in his own revery.

_"...Oh, crap, she has a bruise. He's gonna be pissed. Whoever touched her is gonna get one hell of a lashing. She's off-limits. Everyone knows that. What moron would be dumb enough to touch the boss's girl?..."_

_What the fuck?!_

Her nostrils flared at the thought. 'The boss's girl.' It make her want to scream. Until it caught her attention. Off-limits? Sylar had made her off-limits? Why on earth would he do that? She was highly intrigued now. Someone had to know more than this little drone was letting on. He never had an interesting thought in his head until today. And this thought made her highly uncomfortable. What else had they been thinking for the last seventeen days? She spent the rest of the morning trying to find out. She spied on every thought and conversation she could.

"...There's no telling what she told him. All I know is that he looked different when he left her last night." "Different? How?" "Like he was, I don't know, a little let down. Dissappointed, maybe? I can't put my finger on it." "Maybe the rumors are true then." "Maybe..."

_"...The boss has lost his mind for sure. Getting all worked up over a chick. Does he really think he has the time to get her on our side? She's a damned rebel. Piece of trash..."_

"...I heard that Mr. Sylar is falling in love with her!" "Oh! How romantic!" "Romantic? You two have lost it." "Just think about it, Vixie! The dashing and dark enemy sweeps the fallen heroine off her feet and into a hot and fiery romance!" "Oh, please. That only works in your trash novels. And it don't even work out well in the end. Someone always dies." "Vixie, you are such a buzz kill." "But what if he really is falling for her? He doesn't keep rebels around this long. They're usually released or dead by now. She has to be special." "I hear she's high up on the command chain for a sleeper cell. That's why she's still alive." "But he's only seen her three times. No one else has been in her room!" "Geez, Addy, I don't have all the answers all the time. Now hush before we get in trouble..."

_"...The poor thing. You would think she'd realize it's an honor to be chosen. He doesn't take in rebels. If she would just cooperate, it would be so much easier..."_

She sighed for the hundredth time. This was getting her nowhere. No one had a real clue as to why she was still here. The gaggling trio almost made her sick with their fantasy of her and Sylar falling in love. They obviously had a different view of him than her. They didn't know him like the rebels did. How on earth could they ever see him as anything less than a killer? Hadn't they seen him in action before? It was nauseating to think about.

-*-*-*-*-

He stared out the window at the building across the large exercise yard. Her building. Her window. She was sitting there again. Just watching the troops work out and goof off. Watching with the same blank expression on her face she always had. He wondered what she was always thinking about. He could probably get a telepath to probe her mind and find out.

_Don't do that. It's rude._

"Then how will I know what she's thinking?"

_You know what she's thinking. She hates you. Let her meet me. I'll be able to get through to her._

"Stay out of this, Gabriel. You are weak."

_I'm human. She sees you as a monster. They all do. And you know it._

"You keep quiet or I'm getting Pierce to rip you out of my head."

_You'd like that, wouldn't you? I'm a part of you, Sylar. I am you. The better you. The human you._

"Shut up."

_Look at her. She's perfect. So powerful, so young._

"I don't want her. I want Peter."

_And when you get him? What then? Will you kill her, too?_

"It's possible."

_Don't, Sylar. Please. She could help us. Bring a balance to us._

"I knew you were the one causing all this trouble. You like her, don't you?"

_Yes, I'll admit I am intrigued by her. She has a certain quality that I like._

"Ugh. You and your feelings! That's what got you into trouble all the time! The whole thing with Maya started because of you!"

_That was a long time ago. She married that Mohinder guy, remember? She forgot all about you. And me._

"I would have liked to have her power, though."

_Speaking of powers, you know hers are stronger now. She could break out any day now._

"No, she can't. I'm still sneaking small doses of the inhibitor into her food. She won't be strong enough."

_I think you're starting to like her, too. She reminds me of a little someone we used to know at the Company. All that fire and spunk. She's a little firecracker, huh?_

"Elle was a masochistic bitch. Could have been a good ally if she'd get her head out of her father's ass. But she chose to stay with the Company. That's all her fault."

_Masochistic? You like your fair share of the torture, too, Sy. Don't for get that._

"Gabriel, don't you have anything better to do?"

_Well, I could be working on the girl, but you won't let me, so no._

"You're staying away from her until the proper time comes. I don't need your feelings for her getting in the way."

_I knew it. You like her too._

"This is your last warning. Go away now before I visit Pierce."

_Fine. This is your mess. You clean it._

The voice left as quickly as it had come. Sylar graoned and held his palm to his temple. Gabriel gave him a headache. But he was right. Sylar couldn't get rid of a piece of himself. Especially the piece that kept him human. Too bad that piece was such a pain in the ass. He was getting in the way of the main plan with his feelings for the girl. He liked her, and he wasn't about to keep it silent. He was making Sylar feel for her too.

Gabe was the one who kept him from killing her last night. He was the one who stopped him when she started crying. Who didn't want her to know he'd killed Caitlin all those years ago. He'd forced Sylar to save her when she brought down the whole cell block on top of them. Who had a full medical check on her head when she was brought unconcious to the compound to make sure she didn't have any concussions or other kinds of damage. He wanted her. Badly. Sylar could feel it every time he saw her. Gabriel wanted to be with this girl.

He growled and turned from the window. He couldn't stand what he was feeling for her at the moment. He had to stop this. Now.


	17. Chapter 17

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

"His name was James."

Adam nodded, taking a seat at the small writing desk across the room. Gabby looked at the floor, sadness veiling her form. But she didn't falter. She continued with her story.

"He was Tanner's older brother. Two years older. He came down to the ranch to pick up Tanner and Livvie when they were ready to join the cell. Livvie instantly fell in love with him, and he didn't take but a second longer to love her back. Despite the whole war with Sylar, they were pretty happy. He was gorgeous. Light brown hair, green eyes to die for, perfect muscular structure... And he was the nicest, most sincere man you could ever meet. He cared about everyone. Tried to keep us all safe on missions. Made sure we always food and shelter."

"Sounds like a real keeper."

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, he was great. Peter loved him, too. Totally approved. He was thrilled when they got engaged. It was going to be such a perfect wedding. But, life isn't a fairy tale."

"What happened?" he proded when she got quiet.

"Sylar attacked a little group that didn't know how to keep quiet about their views. We went out to help. Found them in the park. It was a massacre. We were outnumbered, but James kept us all fired up. So we faught harder. Got a bunch, made 'em back off. We were getting the survivors out when this lagger got him. Shot him with a hard bolt of electricity. He was going after Livvie. James saw and shoved her out of the way. She watched her fiance get electrocuted with enough juice to drop a rampaging elephant dead."

Tears streaked her face now. He shoulders shook. Adam instinctively got up from his seat and walked over to the bed. He placed a hand on her shoulder, but didn't sit. Ginny took the comfort anyway, bringing her own hand up to rest on top of his.

"A part of us all died that day. Livvie wanted to go back in time and bring him back. But she couldn't."

"Why not?"

"James said not to. He made us all swear to not bring him back if something happened. He didn't want to be like Matt. He wanted to live his time and go on. Livvie accepted it at the time. But when it came down to it, she just wanted him back. She was a wreck for months after that. Tanner was always with her. They mourned together. Got real close. That's why he's so protective of her."

"I understand now," he told her. "Ginny, I'm not here to replace James. I never could. But if I can make Livvie happy again, I will. I want her to be happy. I do love her, you know."

"Yeah, I know. I can see it all over your face. She loves you too. And I'm glad she's found someone again. I really think we all are. It's just a little hard under the present circumstances."

"I know. But I'm going to get her back, Ginny. Even if I have to do it myself. I'm bringing her back."

"No, Adam. WE are gonna get her back. You gotta learn to come to the meetings. We're a team here. Get used to it."

He chuckled and gave her shoulder a playful nudge. She smiled in return and stood up. "Come on. Let's get something to eat. Matt's got the guys cooking tonight. It's gonna be so good."

"Is that right? Well, I guess I'll have to try it then."

As they left the room, they didn't notice the Peter at the end of the hall. His head was hung low, which seemed to be the norm these days. He looked up only briefly to see Adam and Ginny walk away. He didn't have to wonder about what they were doing. He'd already broken his own rules and listened to the conversation. He relived that horrible day in his head as Ginny told Adam what happened to James. She skipped over the most brutal points of that sweet boy's agonizing death and Livvie's mourning, thank goodness. To hear her speak them might have killed him then and there. It almost had back then.

_"...Daddy..."_

His head shot up. He looked down the hallway. No one. Rushed to her room. Empty. But he'd heard her. Heard her like she was there with him.

_"...Daddy..."_

_"Olivia?"_

_"...Daddy..."_

He tried harder to catch the link. It was so thin, like a whisp of smoke. But he latched on as tight as he could and bonded to line to open it. Her voice sounded far away, and faded in and out like a bad TV signal.

_"Olivia, where are you?"_

_"...I don't really know... A prison, I think... Daddy's he's going to kill you..."_

_"Liv, honey, I can barely hear you. You have to try harder."_

_"...I can't... The drugs make me sick... Hard to use my powers for long..."_

_"I'm going to get you out, hon. I just need to know where you are."_

_"...No... He wants you to come here... He wants to kill you... Stay away..."_

_"I'm not leaving you there!"_

_"...Stay away, Daddy!... Please!... I'll contact you again soon... Just stay away for now... I love you..."_

She was gone. He couldn't feel her anymore. Sylar's drugs must have cut her off. Anger flooded his body. He plowed his fist into the cinderblock wall.

_"GODDAMMITT!"_

Less than a minute later, Matt and Adam were tearing around the corner and running straight for him.

"Pete! What happened?!" Matt yelled halfway down the hall.

"She talked to me," he choked out, trying his hardest not to cry. "She talked to me, Matt."

"Olivia?!"

"Sylar's got her holed up in a prison somewhere. He's got my baby drugged to keep her there as bait for me."

"There isn't that many prisons around here," Adam said. "We can find her now. We'll go tonight."

"No," Peter ordered. "She said not to go there yet. She'll try to reach me again when she can."

"But, Peter!"

"You heard him, Adam. We stay put until she says."

Adam bellowed in frustration and started pacing up and down the hall. "So, we're just going to leave her there?!"

"Adam, we don't have a choice!" Matt snapped. He sighed, lowering his voice. "Livvie's a tough girl. She can take care of herself. Okay? Listen, she knows how to get recon better than anyone. She'll contact us again. Just be ready when she does."

Another groan of frustration escaped Adam's lips before he spoke. "Alright. But I won't wait too long, you hear? I will go out to find her by myself if she takes too long."

"You will do no such thing," Peter hissed. "You will stay here until I say otherwise. Or you will be locked up again. And this time it won't be in such comfortable quarters. Do you hear me?!"

They glared at each other for a few seconds before Adam huffed in response and stalked away. Matt shook his head and turned back to his old friend. Peter was still glaring after Adam. He didn't have to read his mind to know what he was thinking.

"Forget it, Pete. He thinks he's gotta prove himself to everyone. He feels like the bad guy in here still."

"He wants to measure up to James."

"Wait. He knows about James?"

"Ginny told him. He's been wondering why people have been giving him a hard time. Especially Tanner."

"Aaah. I get it. Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No. Just leave him be."

"Alright. Look, dinner's ready. And the group was hoping you'd be there tonight. It would boost morale."

Peter sighed and nodded. "Alright, Matt. Alright."


	18. Chapter 18

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

_*Peter wasn't sure where he was. He was surrounded by trees. It was dark. The moonlight shown in the clearing he was standing in, but only there. He looked around but couldn't see anything beyond the dense growth that surrounded the clearing._

_"Daddy."_

_He spun around to face the voice. He leapt forward to grasp her in his embrace. "Olivia! Oh, my little girl!"_

_"Daddy, I don't have much time. He's been watching me a lot more lately."_

_"Tell me where you are, Liv. Tell me so we can get you out."_

_"I don't know. I'm pretty sure it's a prison of some kind. Above ground. I can see the sun. But, Daddy, you can't come get me."_

_"Why not? Livvie, we need you."_

_"He's waiting for you. I know he killed Mom. He did it because of something you did. Something he hasn't gotten closure on."_

_"How did you find out he killed your mother?"_

_Her gaze fell. "He told me."_

_Peter gripped her shoulders. "I'm sorry you found out that way, honey."_

_"It's alright. He can't change her memories you gave me."_

_"Adam's getting antsy. He wants to head over here and get you out now."_

_"Adam? Oh, no. He can't. He's not ready. I've seen the training grounds. He'll get hurt. You keep him away. You keep everyone away."_

_"But, Livvie..."_

_"No, Dad! Stay away! Do not come here! He's going to kill you!"_

_"Livvie, I am getting you out of there!"_

_"No! Daddy, please! Not yet!"_

_She gasped and looked into the trees off to the side, as if she could see something. Her eyes grew wide._

_"Someone's coming. I gotta go."_

_"Liv..."_

_He grabbed her face in his palms and let his eyes bore into hers. Just for a moment, he could forget she was miles away. He could pretend she was with him in the safehouse. That she wasn't in danger. They were a normal family again._

_"Daddy..." she whispered._

_"Be safe, my little angel. Don't let him hurt you. I'll get you out and we can al be together again. You'll see."_

_She smiled up at him and threw her arms around him in a final embrace before disappearing.*_

Peter sat up in bed, his breath hard and ragged. Dream communications gave him the creeps. But Livvie excelled at it. Nothing could stop her mind when she slept. Not even the drugs Sylar had her under. She'd came to him.

She told him to stay away. She would give up her own life to save his. Too bad he returned the emotion. He'd give anything to give his daughter a better life. At least, that's what he'd always told himself. And now, it seemed as if he would have to really put it to the test. He was going to get her out. No matter how many times she told him not to.

With that resolve, he layed back down and tried the get back to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

Adam woke early and found Matt and Peter already up and sitting around the table in the break room. They were talking about Livvie visiting Peter and warning him to keep away. They only briefly stopped the conversation when he entered the room, so he took it as a sign that he would be alright in participating.

"Pete, she said to wait."

"I know, but right now, Matt, I'm leaning toward Adam's plan of going anyway."

"We don't even know where she is. Ginny can try, but the drugs in Livvie's system is going to cause problems. She may be off."

Adam couldn't hold it in. "We can try, can't we? If she's getting strong enough to contact her father, then why can't she be strong enough for her best friend to find here?"

"I hate to admit it," Matt started. "But you have a point, Adam."

"Of course, I do."

"That doesn't mean we're gonna go drag Ginny out of bed to try to find her."

"She'd do it of her own free will and you know it, Matt. Look, we'll keep Pete behind if he's Sylar's true target. Send a small team in, get Livs, and get out. Quick and quiet."

"There's no such thing as quiet when it comes to you, Adam," Peter quipped. Adam gave a half-grin in his direction.

"Okay, as quiet as possible. Only the best of your troop."

"Pete, you aren't seriously considering this, are you?"

Pete didn't answer.

"Are you?!"

Pete sighed. When he looked up at Matt, a stern resolve was set on his face. "Yes."

Matt threw his arms up and left the room, defeated. Adam sat down in the chair near Peter.

"So, what's our move?"

"Get Ginny, first. Tell Tanner I said to get the team. He'll know what I mean. And you, just follow orders for once in your life."

He nodded with a smirk before standing up and walking out the door. "Yes, sir... Boss."

It didn't take long for the lobby to fill with Tanner's team. They situated themselves around Ginny, who was sitting in the middle of the room in front of a map of the area. Peter, Adam, and Matt sat in chairs in front of her, staring anxiously at her hands. She moved them around the map slowly, her eyes closed, but her head moving around as if she was wearing a virtual reality helmet. Suddenly she stopped movng all together.

"Here! She's here!"

The entire room leaned in to try to see where she was pointing to. Tanner was the first to make it out.

"It's a naval training base. About an hour away. If this is his base, we've got one hell of a fight waiting for us, Pete."

"Let's get this clear right now. This is an extraction only. Get in as quietly as possible, and get Olivia out of there. Quick and clean. Got it?"

Murmurs and nods resounded around the room. Tanner looked over at Adam, who exchanged his glance. The two nodded to each other, an affirmation that they were on the same side. At least, for the moment. Without breaking his stare, Tanner gave the order.

"Alright team," he said, his voice deep and authoritative. "You have your orders, you know what to do. Quick and clean. Let's bring our girl home."

The lobby erupted into whoops and cheers. The nine people chosen for the mission got their good-luck's and see-ya-later's from those staying behind. Tanner helped Ginny up off the floor and led the way outside. Adam followed, staying close to Ginny's side.

"You're going, too?"

"How else do you expect to find Livvie without tearing the entire complex apart?"

He chuckled. "Right again, little one. Right again."

"Now don't start with the short jokes. I'll tell Livvie you were picking on me."

"Oh, please do," he replied, shoving the heavy exit door open. "I like it when she gets feisty. Makes it fun."

"Okay, I thought I wanted to know things like that, but I totally changed my mind."

Adam laughed and tossed his arm on her shoulders. He ignored the glare from Tanner as they walked to the waiting SUVs. He'd let Livvie take care of it when she got back. Right now, he was just happy knowing that he had a friend in a building full of acquaintances. It made the time pass by a little easier, and the missions seem brighter.

No one spoke on the way to the base. Ginny sat in the front passenger seat while Tanner drove. She tried a few times to hone in on Olivia's location, but didn't get any results.

"I just need to be closer to the compound. I'll find her. I promise."

Tanner patted her knee in reassurance. "It's okay, Gin. We're gonna bring her home."

They pulled the SUVs over in an empty parking lot by an abandoned warehouse. Everyone climbed out quietly, their senses on alert. Sam, her power being enhanced senses, snuck forward a pew paces to listen to whatever shatter she could pick up. Ginny hung back and tried again to find Olivia's location. After a minute or so, she gasped quietly.

"South quarters. The ones with electric locks."

"Good thing we brought Bree," Tanner chuckled as he looked back at the girl he'd mentioned. Bree grinned wickedly and held up her hands. Small blue arcs sizzled and popped as they traveled from her palms to the tips of her fingers. Everyone shared the grin. The adrenaline was rising. They were ready for a fight.

"Alright, then," Adam started, unsheathing his sword. "Let's do it."

"We'll go this way first," Sam ordered. "The guards are about to change shifts. They're tired and not paying much attention."

"In other words, they're asleep," chirped one of the guys in the back.

"You got it."

A high-five set the troop off across the parking lot and around another abandoned building. Sam led the way, staying just a few yards ahead of the group. A few times she stopped dead in her tracks and gave the signal to halt. After a few seconds of no one breathing, they would start again and move forward. After about twenty minutes, they reached the fence line of the compound.

"Electrified?" Ginny asked. Both Sam and Bree shook their heads.

"I don't hear it," Sam said.

"And I don't feel it," Bree added. She put her hand very close to the chain-link. "It has a trip, though. If we cut it, or move it, there's gonna be some kind of alarm."

"Can you short it?" Tanner asked.

"Not without electrifying it and setting the alarm off. I don't think phasing through will work, either."

"Then how do we get in?" Ginny prodded.

"Craig," Tanner called softly. "Make a dash around as quickly and quietly as you can, without anyone seeing you. See if you can find a place to get in that's as close to the southern quarters as possible."

"On it," Craig replied before zooming off into the darkness. Mere seconds later he was back. "There's a tree set pretty close to the fence down the line that we can use to get into the compound. There's no guards at that spot, but they're close by. So if we do it right, we can all get in without being seen."

"Alright, that sounds like our best option," Tanner replied. "Let's go."

The team moved to the tree Craig had found and utilized Andy's enhanced strength to hop the fence. Then they followed Sam and Ginny around the back of a wing to the southern quarters where Livvie was. As Sam had predicted, the guards were sleeping, squatted on the ground with their backs to the walls. Tanner nodded and Mark started phasing through the wall, stopping halfway and pulling the others through one by one. They snaked through the dimly lit hallway, following Ginny and Tanner, who had his shield up just as a precaution.

"Here," Ginny whispered suddenly. "She's in the room on the right, three doors down after you turn this corner."

"Alright, guys," Tanner urged. "Let's go get our girl."


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: **Okay, folks, it's time for a new chapter and a fun twist to this crazy story! A HUGE thank you to everyone who's been so patient with me not updating! I really hope you enjoy this one, cuz it's about to get nuts up in here! XOXO!**  
**

**KEY:** Italics inside triple asterisks are memories, but single asterisks are dreams. Single italics are private thoughts. Quoted italics are transmitted thoughts in normal scenes, but are single quoted in dreams/memories (single apostrophe). Arrows closed around are like a voice over affect {blah}.

* * *

Livvie laid there on her bed, staring up at the stars. Her headache had finally gone away, and her mind was clearing quickly. Sylar must have stopped dosing her this morning. Or at least cut it back. Maybe he finally got the hint after she'd left her meals untouched for the last two days and drank nothing but the sealed bottles of water or juice on her trays.

The lock on her door clicked and hummed as the door slid open. And once again, she looked without thinking. But this time, when he walked through her doorway, he looked different. Docile. Thoroughly confused, she sat up.

"What now, Sylar?" She didn't try to stop the distaste coating her voice.

"Sylar's not here," he answered simply. She blinked. Either she'd gone nuts or he had, because he was most definitely standing in front of her.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Sylar and I have more or less grown into two separate personalities lately. I'm Gabriel. The man I was before I discovered my power. Sylar doesn't exactly know I'm here. Yet."

"Gabriel?" She swung her legs off the side of the bed and set her feet on the floor. "What do you want, then?"

"You're help." He sighed, looking over at the barred window. "Going like this, with both of us in one body, fighting for control, isn't working. Something is bound to break. And there's only a few ways it could go after that happens."

Standing up, she watched him incredulously. "So you want me to help you, and he wants to kill my father and most likely me as well."

Gabriel looked back at her. "He doesn't want to kill you, Olivia. You intrigue him almost as much as you do me."

She 'humphed' and stepped away from the bed. The man in front of her was the complete opposite from the one that had kidnapped, drugged and beat her. He lacked the same overconfident air and power-hungry sneer. He looked... Normal.

"Under different circumstances, even a different time when I was in control, I would have pursued you myself." He glanced away. "In a completely different manner, of course."

She scoffed. "You're a little old there, Gabriel."

He smiled. "And yet, Adam is older than any of us. And, from what I have heard, you're in love with him."

Livvie's gaze dropped to the floor. "Leave him out of this. I'm warning you."

"I'm sorry. I assure you, my intent is not to anger you. I don't get out much these days."

She looked back up at him. He's stepped closer, but still kept his distance from her. Almost like he was afraid of her. As if she was suddenly the more powerful one.

"How exactly am I supposed to help you and Sylar?"

"I'm not sure. You're a telepath. So, I guess I was hoping you would be able to get inside our head and find a way to re-merge us, or at the very least suppress him. He's out of control, Olivia. His lust for power has gotten too strong. I was too weak to weigh in and he seized control."

He looked at her straight on, his deep brown eyes pleading with her. "Please, Olivia. I'm afraid you've become our only hope before I'm completely wiped away."

She sighed. Inside, she warred with herself. Could this be a trap? Another one of his cruel mind games. She reached out with her power, trying to sense anything from him. All she received in return was deep remorse and longing. And a little fear.

"You're afraid of him." It was a question. She probed further. "You're terrified that he's going to take you out."

"Yes," was his simple response. "As much as we both know I am and will always be part of him, I am basically the only part that still makes him human. I am his weakness. And I don't want to leave."

Again, she sighed. She found herself stepping closer with no command from her feet. "Sylar killed my mother. He's killed countless others. How can I help him, when I hate him so much?"

"How can you not, Olivia?"

His question caught her off-guard. She recoiled from Gabriel. "He's a murderer, Gabriel! A monster!"

"Can you honestly say you've never killed anyone, Olivia?"

"No! But I've never killed anyone for their abilities! Or for just plain standing in my way!_"_

Gabriel sighed. He looked out the window for a long time before turning back to her. "Will you do just one thing for me tonight while we still have time?"

She bit her lip, reluctant to promise anything. He may be the innocent one of the two, but that still didn't mean that she trusted him. "What?"

"Look inside. Try to see if you can find anything that might help us. A place we can rejoin our personalities. To start the process. If you can find a crack in his walls, maybe there's a change I can get through them in my own time. Please, Olivia. I'm begging you."

The sincerity in his voice broke her. If she could help Gabriel reign in Sylar, maybe then he could stop him. Stop the killings. Give the world back its freedom. Gain her own freedom.

"Okay," she answered. "I'll take a peek and see what I can find."

He beamed at her. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. Come sit over on the bed and just concentrate on keeping him away from me. Once I'm in there, I don't know what's going to happen."

The inside of Gabriel's mind was a jumble. Unfocused and hard to navigate. Sylar had it built up like a maze of hallways and doors, most of them locked. Livvie sighed and walked down a wide corridor, doors on each side of her. She passed several turn-offs, each one looking exactly as the one before. After walking by a door that had been locked, she was shocked to hear it open behind her. She turned back around, and saw Gabriel standing in the doorway.

"Where is he?"

"Asleep somewhere. I never know which door. All the hallways look the same."

"Yeah, I've noticed. And all the doors are locked, too."

"Not all."

"Well, all the ones I've seen are."

He nodded once. "Come inside. We should be alright in here."

She glanced down the hall before following him into the room. She door closed behind them on its own, the click from the latch a faint whisper. Inside, the room was lager than it logically should have been. They were walking into an apartment. One that would have been found in an older-style building in a large city.

"This is where I used to live. I mostly stay here, trying to block out what he does. He doesn't come here much anymore."

"Because it's part of his old life," she guessed. Gabriel nodded.

"He's disconnected himself as much as he can from this part of us."

"Gabriel," she started. He turned to face her full on, his proximity to her extremely bordering on intimate. "Why come to me? Why ask me for my help? Aren't there other telepaths at the base?"

"Yes, but he'd never let me go to them. If they knew about me, he'd have problems keeping his control over them. Over everyone."

"So you come to me."

"Exactly."

"But I can't appeal to his human side. No one can. He's too far gone."

Gabriel turned and walked over to a shelf, picking up a snow globe. "Perhaps. But you're very powerful. There could be a way for you to force your way inside and drag his humanity back."

"You've still never told me how I'm supposed to do that."

He shook his head and set the globe back down. "What's the most powerful weapon that humanity has? The one thing that binds us all together?"

She stayed silent, thinking hard to try to answer his riddle. She could only come up with one single thing. The one thing she and her family had held so sacred through everything to keep them together through their fight for survival. When she looked back up at him, she saw her own answer reflected in his eyes.

"No. You can't be serious."

"And why not? They've said since the beginning of time that there is someone for each of us out in the world."

"Can you honestly believe that there is some chick out there insane enough to love _him_? It's impossible, Gabriel!"

"Nothing is impossible, Olivia."

"For him, it is! No one could love him! He's a murderer! Millions of innocent people have died because of him!"

"But he's loved before. I think he could again."

"You're crazy. Just plain crazy."

"Can you think of any better ideas?"

She groaned in frustration. "Then tell me who. Who on this planet could ever love him? One of the gossiping maids who reads too many romance novels?"

"I was hoping for someone more... Special. Someone with the power to control him."

"I don't know anyone willing to take that chance."

"You might. Just think about it."

Before she had the chance to tell him once again that he was crazy, the entire place started to rumble. The front door shook so hard it should have rightly been knocked off it's hinges. Gabriel's face blanched. They both stared at the door.

"He's aware." He looked down at her. "You have to get out. Now. Before he has the chance to trap you in here with me."

"What about you? What will he do?"

"It doesn't matter. I can handle it. But you have to go now."

She bit her lip. Classic hesitation move.

"Go!"

She tried to clear her mind. Find her escape route. But her feet wouldn't move. She was too scared. Gabriel grabbed her shoulders, heaving her at the door. Just before she hit it, everything went white, and she was back in her own body. She toppled off the bed and onto the hard tiled floor of her holding cell. She hit the floor with a loud grunt.

"What do you two think you're doing?"

Livvie looked up into the fiery eyes of the one-and-only Sylar. She gasped, scrambling to put distance between them. She hit the wall behind her in seconds. Still she pushed harder. As if she could push herself through the cinderblocks and escape the rage building inside the man stalking towards her. He picked her up from the floor with one swift motion from his hand and held her so she was eye level to him.

"Plotting against me, Olivia?"

"Gabriel," she breathed. "Please."

He blinked at the sound of his former name. "What?"

She tried again. If she was going to get some kind of control over him, she had to start trying now. She pushed a picture into his mind. A small flash of a young woman with long dark hair, he back to him, keeping her face from view, standing in front of a kitchen sink. She made him hear her laugh. The sound of chimes tinkling in the breeze. Made him hear her sigh his name in content. _"Gabriel..."_ A dull metallic taste formed on the back of her tongue, but she forced another flash at him, throwing the feeling of warmth and comfort with it. _"I love you, Gabriel..."_ The feel of a soft kiss on his lips. A small hand laying lightly over his heart. _"Forever..." _He grunted, scrunching his face as he fought her. He dropped his hand. She fell to the floor and scrambled around him.

"No! Stop it!"

_"Gabriel..."_

"STOP!" He shut her out, severing her link. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

He turned around, and she felt the cold chill of doom creeping up her spine. But he didn't kill her. Didn't make any moves other than to stare at her in bewildered fury. Then he wordlessly stalked out of her room.


End file.
